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Schools here not much like the worst

A column by New Riegel Schools Superintendent Dale Mills was published a week ago on an education page.

He was taking to task the bashing of public schools. Although there were points on which someone might have a difference of opinion, most people would agree with the thrust of the column.

In considering the column by Mills, the bashing to which he referred and public schools in general, readers should remember the vast differences among public schools across the nation.

Some of the syndicated columnists published in The Advertiser-Tribune engage in the bashing of the public school system. However, the examples they cite are not schools with much in common with those in New Riegel, Tiffin or Attica.

When Cal Thomas reports that hundreds of thousands of students &emdash; about half &emdash; in the Los Angeles schools are failing but won't be held back because they would clog the system, it doesn't relate to schools in this area.

If it did, there would be a public outcry by parents and educators alike.

The public schools a child here can anticipate when he or she leaves home in the morning are a far cry from what greets youngsters in some metropolitan areas.

These differences should be one frame of reference in weighing criticism of public schools.

The suggestion by Superintendent Mills at the end of his column should be taken seriously by people across the community. He asked people to visit their locals schools to check out their tax dollars at work.

If more people did that, not only would more citizens be informed about schools and what is happening in them, the schools also would be more connected to their communities.