By Amoret Bell Bunn, Alexandria
(Photo/File Photo) 

To the editor:

Again, there is talk about Alexandria City Public Schools sending students to the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. This means creating a proposed elite group of 14 students whose tuition — paid with city tax money — would cost thousands of dollars.

That money should only be used for the enrichment of all the students in our schools. There are advanced placement classes at T.C. Williams — about 25 in all — so our brightest have the same options as TJ students.

Alexandria’s schools have always been considered troubled, and I have lived here for 43 years. Through these years, many students have gone on to top universities for undergraduate and higher degrees, including my daughter, who has a Ph.D. in a science field without the benefit of attending TJ.

There are many factors in this “troubled” reputation. The major ones are social and economic. There are 80 languages spoken in the homes of our students, who hail from 128 countries of birth. Thus I urge the school board to continue to decline sending any students to TJ and use all their efforts and funds for all the children of our city.