Letters to the Editor | July 20, 2023

In their Sunday op-ed, Jeff and Janine Yass say they want a “free market” approach to education, but do they? The Target closest to me is in Philadelphia. But since it’s a free market, I can go to the Target in Wynnewood or Plymouth Meeting. It’s my choice. And if I get to the last toaster before a Wynnewood or Plymouth Meeting resident, so be it. In a free market system, the parents of the student at John Bartram High for whom the Yasses are so concerned could choose Lower Merion public schools. And if more students seek to attend Lower Merion than there is capacity, an equitable selection process, such as a lottery, would be employed. But that’s not what the Yasses propose. They want to take public money from traditional public schools and give it to private operators. Some operators run excellent schools; some are grifters. All pick and choose their students, skimming the cream of the student crop and the committed parents. They leave the more challenging students to traditional public schools. When the Yasses support a true free market educational system, I’ll stand with them. But all they propose today is the conservative fever dream of eliminating public education.

Paul Chrystie, Philadelphia

I am dumbfounded at the Biden administration’s “let’s not make Ukraine too strong, humiliate Russia, and risk nuclear war” approach to the current war. The West, let alone the rest of the world, cannot afford Ukraine to lose and, as columnist Trudy Rubin points out, a war of attrition favors Russia. Let’s get this over with by enabling a clearly superior Ukrainian army to chase out the invaders. I am confident that Putin will find a way to sell a retreat at home. Pictures of the devastation that Russia has viciously inflicted on Ukraine will be used to “prove” the success of his mission to intimidate the West from “further acts of aggression.” The longer this war drags on the more it fuels the cynical politics of the fringe right GOP extremists in Congress, hurts Democrats, and further endangers Ukraine. A longer war emboldens foes abroad, creates doubt among our allies, and diminishes our international standing.

Rabbi Avi Winokur, Haddonfield

First, I want to strongly condemn anyone who submits false reports about ATVs to get police attention, but I understand the frustration. I invite rapper Meek Mill — or anyone else who thinks ATVs or dirt bikes on city streets is a positive — to spend a night in our condo on South Street. The noise is so overwhelming that we have to pause TV or stop conversations until the vehicles pass. Riders constantly speed through red lights. Will Mill think that “nothing ever goes wrong” with bikes when they kill a pedestrian? The odds are it will happen. We’ve seen the look of terror on tourists’ faces. No other world-class city would accept this behavior. These riders do not respect anyone. Mutual respect is what allows a society to provide freedom for everyone, not just those riding dirt bikes.

Debra Schiff, Philadelphia

Join the conversation: Send letters to letters@inquirer.com. Limit length to 150 words and include home address and day and evening phone number. Letters run in The Inquirer six days a week on the editorial pages and online.