In summer, 1978, I was studying educational administration at the University of Wisconsin. I was the only student in my law class who had grown up in Catholic schools, so I wrote my term paper on the emerging idea of vouchers for parents of parochial school children. I made a case against vouchers for two reasons.

First, vouchers would entangle church and state. Giving tax payer money for a special purpose requires state oversight, so church-state entanglement was unavoidable.

Second, I wrote that parochial schools wanting vouchers did not understand what they wished for. Their schools are the education arms of their communities. No matter how minimal the strings attached to vouchers, anything that got in the way of community control violated the essence of a parochial education, which is community control.

In summary, my paper pointed to two principles of American democratic governance: (1) stay out of religious matters, (2) oversee use of public funds. At that time I could not see 35 years into the future, when the North Carolina legislature would toss aside both principles without debate.

Dear Defenders of Public Education:

Get a grip. Outrage over the TIME magazine cover (November 2, 2014) reveals your ignorance of American capitalism. Describing teachers as “Rotten Apples” on the cover is meant to sell magazines — nothing more, nothing less. The real article headline (pp. 34-35) is “Taking on Teacher Tenure,” which is placed under a picture of three good apples and a rotten one.

Today’s lesson on the chalkboard as you enter the classroom:

Examples of Partial Truths

1. Teachers are rotten.

2. The percentage is 25%.

When it comes to magazine covers and graphics, partial truths are good enough, just as they are in all forms of advertising/marketing/promotion. “Rotten Apples” is a partial truth because, although it is not true that a high percentage of teachers are rotten, some teachers are. Using an illustration that says the ratio is one in four is also a partial truth because the actual percentage depends on the definition of “rotten.” Few people believe 25% of teachers are “rotten,” (as that word is commonly used), but some believe at least one out of every four teachers is “rotten.” There you have it — partial truth. We can’t know the actual percentage, and some people believe it is at least 25%.

Instead of outrage, do your job. Teach young people how our society works by helping them understand partial truths in advertising/marketing/promotion. Examples are all around them.