Letters to the Editor | Aug. 16, 2023

Thank you, Trudy Rubin and The Inquirer, for your outstanding reporting on the war in Ukraine. Rubin’s heart-wrenching story about the funeral of a Ukrainian soldier was a real tear-jerker. Now, her two great columns on Sunday, “Why Ukraine can still win” and “Ordinary men, extraordinary heroes,” are a credit to The Inquirer. She shows the extraordinary heroism of Ukrainians, as well as how much more could be done to stop Russian aggression if only Washington would stop fearing a Ukrainian victory. The Russian threat to all of Europe will disappear only with Western resolve to defeat Moscow.

Leo Iwaskiw, Philadelphia

President Joe Biden has done a fine job running the country. However, it may be better for all if he were not a presidential candidate in 2024. Age will not be his friend, and the issues dealing with his son Hunter will be added pressures no one needs. In a time when the nation needs to come together and forge a better path forward, do we, and the president, need the distractions created by Hunter? Can Biden give his son all the support he wants while being president?

There are problems with an incumbent withdrawing from the race this far in. But America needs a leader and a party that is not distracted and restricted by issues not germane to guiding the country through threats of war abroad and global warming. Let’s wipe the slate clean — that goes for both parties — and have an election where the only focus is on the issues we’re facing and not the past behaviors or implied problems of the candidates.

Jim McGogney, Marlton

In his recent op-ed, “We must position Philadelphia public school students for lifelong success,” Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. touts that the district held steady on overall test scores for fourth- and eighth-grade reading and math from 2019-2022. While that isn’t the case for other district-wide results, which did show declines, the more important issue is that district-wide scores are largely the product of deep disparities among schools. It’s not particularly useful or accurate to talk about an overall statistic that is artificially raised by a handful of high-performing schools, while the low-performing ones continue to flounder.

For example, the 2021-22 ELA third-grade reading results show that 29% are proficient or advanced, down 6 points from the previous year. But at Isaac A. Sheppard School, only 6% are reading at a proficient or advanced level, down 11 points from the previous year. And at the Edward Gideon School, the current number is 5%, down 14 points. Looking at math for all grades, the district comes in at 15% testing proficient or advanced, down 6 points from the previous year. At Sheppard, that number drops to 3%, down 6 points. At Gideon, it’s only 2%, a decline of 2 points from the previous year.

It’s imperative to focus on school-specific data when it comes to things such as testing scores and facilities conditions, graduation rates, and attendance rates so that resources can be directed where they are most needed. Positive district-wide results are fine to announce, but they don’t tell the whole story.

Deanna Burney, Philadelphia

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