For several months, the Omaha community has been roiled by the hostile efforts of the Omaha Public School (OPS) district to seize the schools and territory of long-established suburban school districts. Here ia an email that I sent to my representative in the Nebraska unicam on Sun., 4/9/06:
Dear Mr. Brashear:
I have appreciated your hard work as my representative in the legislature, and I have always voted for your re-election.
We believe strongly in giving our 11 year-old daughter a Montessori education. The Millard School District is the only area district that has had the entrepreneurial initiative to offer such a program, so we filled out the paperwork to option Jenny into the Millard District.
I strongly resent the implication of OPS that those who choose other school districts necessarily do so for racial reasons. We would have been very happy to stay in OPS (and it would have been more logistically convenient), but OPS does not support the diversity of educational options that Millard does.
Ernie Chambers is often wrong, but he is not always wrong. Dividing OPS into three districts would be a modest step toward increasing parental choice. Parents of all races want to be free to choose.
Tomorrow, I hope your vote will be to support freedom and competition.
Thank you for considering my views.
Sincerely,
Art Diamond
Hi my name is RaeCharles, and I go to Omaha North (im a freshmen.)
I believe that LB1024 Is totally idiotic and heres why:
– Sure Parents, You all want to have a say in our education, but do you want to stifle you child’s ability to cope in the real world.
DO YOU REALIZE THAT BY BREAKING US UP INTO DIFFERENT DISTRICTS, THAT WE WILL ONLY LEARN TO INTERACT WITH PEOPLE SIMILAR TO US. THAT THE KIDS AROUND US LIVE IN OUR NEIGHBORHOODS, SO THEREFORE WE WONT LEARN TO UNDERSTAND PEOPLE FROM DIFFERENT WALKS OF LIFE.
I WISH THAT ALL PARENT WHO HAD A SAY IN THIS MATTER WOULD LISTEN TO THEIR KIDS. MOST LIKELY WE WILL THEY WILL SAY THAT THEY LIKE THE FACT THAT THEY GET TO MEET KIDS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD AS OPPOSED TO FORM NEXT DOOR.
I’m just asking you to LISTEN… Its our future on the line, not yours.