Letters to the Editor | May 29, 2023

As a former longtime teacher in the School District of Philadelphia, I applaud the bold plan put forward by the superintendent for the city’s schools. It’s a thoughtful and realistic blueprint for putting public education in Philadelphia back on track. For it to have a chance, however, it needs to be backed by a united effort that includes teachers, parents, the business community, and local government. The focus needs to be on making it work, and not on the potential obstacles to its success. It should be accompanied by an expectation that problems and failures will occur along the way, but that these should be identified quickly and used as a way to tweak the plan to continue moving forward. Our new mayor and incoming City Council need to prioritize and remain vigilant about three things: crime (particularly gun violence), public education, and financial health and stability (for businesses and individuals). Tony B. Watlington Sr. has given the city a strong starting point regarding one of these.

Joseph Goldberg, Philadelphia

I’m tired of this game of chicken being played in Washington over raising the debt limit. Both sides are right. The current bills we have must be paid; Congress had already approved these expenditures. We have to get loans to pay for these bills. Therefore, not paying and not raising the debt limit so we have the ability to fulfill our financial obligations is nonnegotiable. Yet, ways must be found to bring down costs, to balance the budget. But holding the debt limit hostage is not the way to do this. Only Congress can determine the future budget.

Elizabeth Ligon, Wilmington

I read with interest Cherelle Parker’s plan to clean up Philadelphia. I would like to suggest hiring someone to clean up the breakdown lanes of the ramps to the Roosevelt extension and the extension itself. I’ve been driving this corridor for the past month, and the same tire, bottles, car parts, etc., remain littering the highway. This is why visitors call us “Filthadelphia.”

I remember street workers having those machines that they pushed along the sidewalks in town and sucked up the trash. Perhaps there is a bigger model for the highway. I would gladly get paid to remove these areas of trash. I love my hometown, and it saddens me to see it so dirty.

Rebecca Betz, Haverford, becbetz@gmail.com

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