Letters:

The state's refusal to adequately fund local school districts fuels the increase in property taxes, burdening the poorest communities with the highest tax rates ("Imbalanced burden that won't go away," June 15). A recent legislative study found that 95 percent of Pennsylvania's districts don't meet adequacy.

Gov. Rendell has proposed a bold plan to supplement property-tax relief by boosting spending for schools by more than $2.6 billion over six years. It's a critical first step to guaranteeing a rational education funding formula for the majority of districts in the commonwealth. The problem is that too few legislators have stepped up to endorse the full six years of this plan.

We well know the tendency in Harrisburg to appease a year at a time rather than create long-term solutions to serious problems. We also know Harrisburg's tendency to fiddle with numbers behind closed doors. Neither will work in this case.

We've waited too long. Legislators need to endorse the six-year funding formula for our schools and our communities. The cliché in school-equity circles is to say, "It's about the kids." But the reality is, it's about all of us.

Helen Gym

Philadelphia

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The property-tax increase that followed the Dorschu family's move from Radnor to a smaller home in a less-affluent community illustrates why Gov. Rendell's fair and equitable school-funding plan must be adopted by the state legislature this month ("Imbalanced burden that won't go away," June 15).

Relying so heavily on local property taxes to fund schools in communities with inadequate property wealth or land value is no way to support quality education for Pennsylvania's children. Our General Assembly needs to stop talking about investing in education and actually pass Rendell's proposed education funding.

Sid Holmes

Secane

Noel Weyrich outlines a new citywide parking proposal without taking into account the people who matter most - the drivers ("It's time to shift parking rates," June 1).

Parking in Philadelphia is priced to reflect the variety of customers we accommodate every day. These customers have different needs and work on different schedules, and our rates reflect that. Our industry is healthier and more competitive when we offer "early-bird" specials and monthly rates to some, while continuing to provide valuable services to short-term customers as well.

Weyrich wants to punish people whose jobs or schedules require them to drive during rush hour - under the guise of alleviating traffic congestion. Yet, the overwhelming majority of traffic in our city is caused not by off-street parking rates, but by trucks stopped to load or unload and streets that lack turning lanes, according to a 2005 Planning Commission study.

Every major city has traffic. It's a sign of an active and lively community. Frankly, I'd be more worried about Philadelphia if nobody needed - or wanted - to drive and park here than I am by the "problem" we have now.

Robert Zuritsky

President

Parkway Corp.

Philadelphia

Earl Ofari Hutchinson's column "Obama stereotypes role of black fathers" (Inquirer, June 19) may have been intended to shed light on black men as fathers, but it missed the mark on the role of all fathers in a successful family.

Any single mother working her tail off to raise her children and "bring home the bacon" will tell you that a man who cannot meet the "expectation and burden" of being the principal breadwinner could at least stick around to help raise the children. Women stay at home, to take care of the children and the household, with great results. Any man - white, black or green - who stuck around to contribute to that monumental effort would be appreciated by any woman.

And, yes, any man who fathers children but contributes nothing to their care and upbringing is a "societal failure."

Julie Brown

Havertown