Parents - primary caretakers

The article ``Schools as Fortresses,'' Sept. 29, concludes with the wise observation ``that parents, not schools, must be the primary caretakers of students and the primary shapers of their social and moral development.'' It should be obvious that parents, in carrying out this ``primary'' obligation, need to place their children in an educational environment that provides the ``social and moral development'' that they need.

It is in the public interest if we are to avoid the growing evil which you have described that all parents be enabled, without financial penalty, to choose schools that provide ``social and moral development'' for their children.

We need a public policy of vouchers that enables parents to provide the ``social and moral development'' that their children, and our society, need. Olin J. Murdick Essexville, Mich.

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