I worked for my choice
I recall being offered “EdChoice.”
I could choose the public high school where I knew no one; or, as my dad said, “You can get your butt out there and earn the money” for the parochial school that I wanted to attend alongside the grade school classmates that I’d known for years.
That meant getting up at 4 a.m. daily to deliver the Columbus Citizen-Journal, then coming home to get ready for school. Later, it was going home immediately after school to deliver The Columbus Dispatch when it was an afternoon paper.
Subsequently, it was cleaning up a grocery store bakery five nights per week until 9 p.m., and then walking home to start my homework.
There was no room for extracurriculars here.
Working in the school cafeteria during half of my lunch break saved me the 50 cents that I’d otherwise have paid for lunch.
Attending a private school was a luxury that I had to find ways to pay for, and no one, especially taxpayers, got stuck with the bills.
It’s hard to process why anyone would get a free ride on my taxes when I recall all that I had to do for my “choice.”
Steve McLoughlin, Reynoldsburg
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: I worked my tail off to pay for private school. I shouldn’t have to pay for your kids | Letter
Reporting by Letters to the Editor / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
