Letter to the Editor

by Julanne Burts

I recently attended a meeting of the Governors' Commission on Early Childhood Learning (GCEL).  While I do not doubt that the participants have the best interests of children at heart, their solution is typical of what is wrong with the government's one size fits all solutions.

I know that there are times when the arm of the government must reach into homes to protect children.  But this commission’s proposals would bring the government into every home.  They seek to intervene where intervention is not needed; to impose the values of the bureaucrat on families and to use the power of the government to do it.  The commission proposes the use of our tax dollars to accomplish these goals.

For years the cry of the left has been, "Don’t force your morality on me!"  Today, I join them in that cry.  Don’t force your morality on our families.  Don’t send your un-elected agents to our door to pass judgment on our parenting or on the life lessons we are teaching our children.  Most of us are doing fine with our children.  Don’t seek to solve the problems of a small minority of families by imposing government solutions on all of us.

I am sure that the esteemed chairwomen of this committee, Mrs. Locke and Mrs. Gates, would not tolerate such intrusion into their family life.  Please respect our right to diversity of thought, religion, and morality and stay out of our families.

Thank you for giving me an opportunity to speak for freedom and the rights of families and parents.

Web sites for more information:

LEARN

Governor's Commission on Early Learning