Letter: Our greatest exploitable resource

Public school children are seen as exploitable standing resources for economic gain.

“There’s a great community tradition of putting education first in Aspen, and we have a very close connection between the private sector and the public sector here,” said a representative of the Aspen Education Foundation (“Aspen School District may sell naming rights for public school buildings,” The Denver Post, March 29). The mixing of private and public interests (i.e., money) in the ongoing activities of public schools and the lives of public school children seems to know no bounds.

We’ve already got public money financing all manner of religious, racial, elitist and ideological schools under the guise of “charter” and now the idea for little Johnny to advertise a local restaurant and bar by having the name stenciled on his forehead. Ah, that’s extreme. When you mix private business and public schools, the outcomes must be based on some set of values. Profit and loss seem to be leading all too often.

Rocky Hill

Denver