Letters: Just too many charter schools

IT APPEARS to me that what is wrong with Philadelphia public schools is not that there are not enough charter schools but that there are too many.

As the city threatens to raise my property tax to pay for more charter schools, it seems to me that while the charter-school idea was filled with promise when it was introduced, it is overwhelming an already overwhelmed public-school system. The cost to educate a child in a charter school is higher than it cost the public-school system.

The army of school buses that populate our streets is staggering, as they are never full. I have seen entire buses with 10 or 12 kids on it. The cost to maintain such a fleet with fuel and insurance must be staggering to the public-school system.

The charter schools have not been shown for the most part to educate their students any better than the public-school system. Many charter schools are run not by educators but by people looking to make a quick buck, as education has become like prisons for profit, another cash cow.

These charter schools drain so much of the funds from an already beleaguered system that the children left in public schools suffer.

No, we do not need to raise my property taxes, or charge more for cigarettes or soft drinks. We need to use the funds that we have to educate our children at the same level, not create a false caste system where if you are lucky enough to get into a charter school then you receive a better education than those who do not go to a charter school.

And if someone wants to open a charter school, then let them bear the burden of busing their children to their school so we do not have to pay for their profits.

And are those charter schools nonprofits?

We also need to get rid of the School Reform Commission because they are the reason that we are in this mess.

And why does mayoral candidate Anthony Hardy Williams want more charter schools?

Robert L. Glover Jr.

Philadelphia

Comcast: Wrong team

I was one of 30 people to testify at the Comcast franchise-renewal meeting at Mast Community Charter School.

As Philly Chamber of Commerce president Rob Wonderling said, "community pillar" Comcast has offered large salaries to Philly residents. Founder Ralph Roberts is a genius. Unlike other companies who have left Philly for greener pastures, Comcast has stayed.

However, it is time that CEO Brian Roberts kicks some butt. It is not appropriate that customers are treated improperly and sometimes with rude indignation.

Philadelphians are the hometown team. Yet, customers are often treated like the Dallas Cowboys.

Myles Gordon

Philadelphia Taxpayers Association

Philadelphia