Part of the federal cutting back here in Alabama includes a program that offers GED and parenting classes to unwed mothers and fathers at a local school.

The program costs $95,000 a year — a price tag the Selma City Schools can’t make up to keep the program going.

What it means likely is some mothers and fathers of small children won’t learn some basic skills or get a high school diploma.

Sure, other entities have GED programs, and it’s likely that many people don’t want their tax dollars going so some woman who has had a baby out of wedlock can get something for free.

Interesting concept.

Several years ago, most of hailed a program called Welfare-to-Work. It was a federal program designed to wean welfare mothers from public assistance and put them on their feet by teaching them job skills. GED classes were among some of the programs in various states.

The federal government killed that program in 2004 amid claims of overpriced contracts paid to individuals or groups who cared more about lining their pockets with dollars than about helping welfare moms get marketable job skills.

Because that program failed, we want to lump many other programs into the same category.

But we’re talking high school equivalency here. A community school seems like an excellent place for young men and women to go to get an education, even if they have passed the age of sitting in a high school classroom.

So what would you want your tax dollars to pay for instead of teaching these individuals the basic skills to get that high school diploma we always talk about?