Heaven saw what was happening to their angel

They felt his pain and saw his endless tears

They knew he'd suffered enough through the years

He had felt things that no one should ever feel

Even though he found love he never knew if it was real

So God sent an angel down from the heavens high above

And now forever that little boy is happy and will know love

John J. Ruppert

Mayfair

Ackerman's agenda is bad for the Northeast

Superintendent of Schools Arlene Ackerman had her Guest Opinion printed in the Northeast Times last week. After one year and nothing accomplished in her position, she obviously doesn't know her audience yet. She doesn't realize that the taxpayers of the Northeast actually pay their real estate taxes that support the Philadelphia public schools. The last time I saw the real estate tax delinquencies by percentage, Northeast Philadelphia ZIP codes were all within single digits. Some of the inner city ZIP codes had real estate tax delinquencies ranging from 30 percent to just over 50 percent.

Ackerman stated that "every student deserves a great teacher." But what she fails to tell Northeast residents is that she wants to take the better teachers from Northeast schools and reassign them to the hardest-to-staff schools. Where do you think they are located? She even wants to offer teachers an incentive. Whose tax dollars is she offering?

Ackerman wants "to close the opportunity and achievement gap." Is that within the city schools or vs. the suburban school districts? Is she using the Northeast's tax dollars to do this, too?

She and her cronies just received approval for a $250,000 contract with a Florida employment agency to assist in recruiting 50 African-American teachers.

It is obvious to me that Ackerman has some sort of an agenda that is not positive for the Northeast, so maybe it is time to cut our children's losses and get a new superintendent, possibly from Philadelphia this time. Don't worry, it won't be the first contract she was asked to leave and paid out on.

Mayer Krain

Modena Park

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Regarding Ms. Ackerman's article, Our students deserve the best teachers: Yes, they do, but her task is not to convince us, but rather, the Philadelphia Federation of Mediocre and sub-par Teachers.