Letters: Sorry state of schools shouldn't merit a bonus

Re: "Ackerman gets $65,000 as performance bonus," Tuesday:

Sandwiched between two prestigious houses of higher education sits the mammoth civic failure that is University City High School. Having passed the metal detectors and x-ray machines, one may glimpse the gaping holes in its asbestos-filled ceilings on the way to classrooms where teachers do not have enough books for their students. School plays are canceled because of a lack of funding. Attendance rates hover at 70 percent; proficiency rates below 10 percent. Violence is a daily occurrence. There is more than enough blame to go around: Burned-out teachers who teach via worksheets, administration officials who wall themselves off in their offices, students who lack ambition, parents who defy understanding with their lack of involvement.

It is incomprehensible to the point of insulting that the head of a district in which a University City High is sadly the norm could possibly receive a pay raise for having met all expectations for school performance. Such an act is indicative of the low bar set for public education. On behalf of our schools, children, and indeed our city, it would behoove Arlene Ackerman to demonstrate some humility, and proclaim that when all city students attend schools of which they can be proud, schools in which even elected officials would gladly enroll their children, only then will performance goals have been met.

Zachary F. Wright

Teacher, University City High School

Philadelphia