Letters

To the Editor:

I congratulate Education Week on all four of the Commentaries in the Feb. 23, 2000, issue. But I would like specifically to mention two of them that seem to me to be not only of great importance but closely related. These are "School Choice: Beyond the Numbers" by Joseph P. Viteritti and "The Need for More Alternative Schools" by Robert DeBlois.

In most respects, Mr. Viteritti's essay powerfully and admirably lays out the case for school choice. But I am afraid that it also falls into the unfortunate and all-too-common pit of essentially defining such choice as a choice between, on the one hand, vouchers for students—and especially low-income and minority students—to attend private or parochial schools (and/or the ability of parents to send their children to publicly supported charter schools) or, on the other hand, the forced attendance of those children at poorly performing...