Editor:

In an April 27 letter to the editor of The Farmville Herald (“On funding Prince Edward’s public schools,”) Richard Altice advocates for a line-item school budget available online. It’s a great idea, and it’s a clear way for the public to argue intelligently about both total and individual allocation of funds for our schools.

The rest of his letter appears to come from a different time. Altice expressed concern that without a line-item budget, children cannot adequately argue about where more funds are needed. 

However, it stands to reason that without a line-item budget, one also cannot argue that school funding should be reduced (even though Altice did just that, as reported by The Herald).

Additionally, Altice accused the parents and teachers of the children who spoke at recent board of supervisors meetings of child abuse. 

As a parent to one of these children, I find his accusation insulting. He claims that he is not anti-education, but he does assert that children following in a long tradition of civic responsibility and civil discourse are pawns in an elaborate con.

They say that even a stopped clock is right twice a day. This particular clock appears to be stopped at around 1951.

David Shoenthal

Farmville