Columbia, SC — The tone of your Jan. 30 editorial, “Howard Rich’s losing investment strategy,” was very insulting to many parents who want the best education available for their kids in grades K-12. Just as parents choose a physician for their children based on good health outcomes, they should have the same choice of a school in order to prepare their children to be responsible and productive adults.

Our public school system has many dedicated teachers and schools that produce very good outcomes, but many public schools do not. We still are near the bottom of the ladder in several categories in spite of increased funding. We cannot keep doing the same thing and expect different results.

You castigate Mr. Rich for supporting politicians in South Carolina who happen to agree with his philosophy of supporting private schools that would give parents a choice. Competition and the free enterprise system have always worked to produce the best product and the lowest price, so why should our educational system be any different?

Parents pay property taxes to support schools and should have the right to determine the best use of those funds through school choice, public or private. Our children only get one shot at a K-12 education, and they deserve an opportunity to get the best one available.

You refer to Mr. Rich as a carpetbagger; I suggest that he has a good idea that just might improve the educational opportunities for children in South Carolina.

Bobby Horton

West Columbia