Mayor Catherine Pugh's recent plan to reduce the violence in Baltimore has one aspect which, quite frankly, appears discriminatory ("An 'update' on Baltimore's violence prevention strategies: They're not working," Aug. 10). I am speaking of the offer of a free college education at Baltimore City Community College for graduating seniors. It only applies to those students that graduated from Baltimore City Public Schools. What about those graduating seniors, children of Baltimore taxpayers, who graduate from a private or parochial high school?
Many Baltimore residents prefer to send their sons and daughters to a private or parochial high school, whether it be in Baltimore or Baltimore County. They do this, most likely, to spare their children from the fiasco that is the Baltimore City Public School system. And they do this without any relief from either the city or the state, saving Baltimore approximately $16,000 in education costs while paying at least that much, and in some instances much more, in tuition to the private or parochial school.
Come on, Mayor Pugh, let's be fair. Offer your free college to all graduating seniors if their parents are city taxpayers whether they attended public, private or parochial high schools.
William J. Wolf, Jr., Baltimore
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