Rebuttal -- Jane Altman-Dwan

JANE ALTMAN-DWAN is a resident of Newport Beach.

Something that was never done before usually does leave us a little

frightened or uneasy. However, there are ways to face fears that Gay

Geiser Sandoval has brought up in her column and the unknown straight in

the face.

Two of the strongest weapons are fact-finding knowledge and just plain

old common sense.

Proposition 38 (regarding school vouchers) fears are easy for me to

face. I’ve sent my kids to private school and public school. There is

good and bad on each side.

FACT: Any private school that does not do achievement scoring does not

get [student] enrollments.

FACT: After three years in private education, my son’s Stanford 9 test

scoring was post-high school in three subjects. Upon returning to public

school one year, his scores sunk dramatically.

FACT: He did not achieve these lofty scores at a fabulous lush campus

the likes of Sage or Mater Dei. These scores were achieved at a more

typical small, austere private campus. Definitely not the lush rolling

campuses like Harbor High or Ensign.

Will they accept a struggling child who has learning disabilities that

costs more to educate?

Actually, frankly, that describes my son. They not only accepted him,

they taught him that he can succeed.

I appreciate the time that teachers in public schools use to teach my

child, especially those who dare to challenge him.

But it is disappointing to me to hear that a child bellyaching over

first day homework can set the year’s precedence.

My son came home with no homework that day! To be honest, the private

schools would not be as sympathetic. The teachers of private schools know

that their paycheck depends on their amount of determination to teach,

which includes perseverance.

And that’s it in a nutshell!