Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Letters to the Editor | Oct. 10, 2022

Inquirer readers on preschool education and the Krasner impeachment hearings at the Navy Yard.

Protesters rally against an effort by state legislators to impeach District Attorney Larry Krasner during hearings at the Navy Yard last month.
Protesters rally against an effort by state legislators to impeach District Attorney Larry Krasner during hearings at the Navy Yard last month.Read moreJessica Griffin / Staff Photographer

Child-care teachers can’t lift burden alone

Thank you for supporting our children as they carry the weight of the world, Diane Burnett; your commitment to the families you serve is commended, and you should not stand alone in this effort. Family-serving systems in every community must partner to reduce fragmentation and build a more efficient system that addresses the barriers families face in identifying and accessing better-quality child care for their children. Pediatric primary care is one such system that is part of the solution and committed to building a higher-quality, more collaborative, trusted network of care. As a universal touchpoint, pediatricians can provide resources that ensure families feel empowered to make informed decisions about care for their child.

Together, we can build a network that supports families in identifying and accessing care and ensuring they are not intermediaries between systems and, ultimately, gives children what they deserve — lifting the burden of the world.

Tara Dechert, PolicyLab at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, program manager, Lancaster

Disrespectful, uncivil behavior

According to reports, State Rep. John Lawrence opened District Attorney Larry Krasner’s impeachment hearing by commenting on the Philadelphia citizens who were demonstrating support for Krasner with a peaceful vigil as follows: “This committee will not be drawn into the gutter filled with circus animals …”

Having read this, I feel the urgent need to write and condemn these words. While I count myself a supporter of Krasner, I have had conversations with others who are critical of his tenure. Somehow, we manage to have this exchange without calling each other animals from the gutter.

This kind of character assassination is at the core of the danger to democracy we are experiencing as a nation. One of the important freedoms granted by our Constitution is the right to assemble and protest. Indeed, it is nothing less than patriotic to stand for what you believe is right and crucial to our nation.

Our gun violence problem is grievous and complex. No one has a monopoly on ways we can work our way out of this devastation. But I have a pretty good idea that calling each other animals from the gutter isn’t going to help.

Regardless of one’s opinion about Krasner’s approach to criminal justice, many of us voters in Philadelphia think a state-level committee does not have the right to impeach Krasner. Attempting to do this constitutes a denial of the rights and electoral voice of Philadelphians.

Deborah Zubow, 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.