A school diversity success story
Brooklyn: The Daily News’ call for improved school integration (“Learn to learn together,” Oct. 24) is worthy, but damages its own cause in falsely portraying Brooklyn’s mostly minority PS/MS 282. Far from “struggling to read and do math at city averages,” in 2016 our elementary test scores beat city averages significantly — 12 percentage points higher in English and 6 points in math. Our students have won two division national chess championships. We are city leaders in computer science and will be profiled in “New York City’s Best Public Pre-K & Elementary Schools,” to name a few accolades. Our school is an opportunity engine, sending kids of all ethnicities and incomes to some of NYC’s best upper schools and bright futures beyond. PS/MS 282 can teach a lot about what works in building schools that are both successful and diverse, and what doesn’t. One thing that does not work are opinion pieces that look only skin deep, dismissing hard-won accomplishments and jeopardizing the reputation of a fine school on the real front lines of NYC’s integration effort. Parent Teacher Organization of the Park Slope School PS/MS 282 Co-Presidents Una LaMarche and Andrew Marshall School Leadership Team Parent Chair Steve Hamill Community Education Council 13 President David Goldsmith
Councilman Brad Lander
Editor’s note: Our editorial on diversifying public schools, using statistics from the city’s Department of Education, did get PS 282’s achievement numbers wrong. The school’s proficiency figures are above, not below, city averages. We regret the error.
Ghoul of the opera
Manhattan: Thousands of people were more than inconvenienced (“Texas man who dumped friend’s ashes at Metropolitan Opera ‘beyond embarrassed,’ ” Nov. 1). It was terror. I was in the mezzanine. I can’t believe this guy was not intercepted in the parquet section and his apple stuck down his throat. Not arrested? If he had been a black guy he would have been shot dead.
Gary Brandwein
Bronx cheer from Hawaii
Honolulu: This is ridiculous. This man’s careless, thoughtless, selfish act ruined my 72-hour-trip from Hawaii where I flew 10 hours nonstop to hear and experience all of “William Tell” and more importantly see and hear James Levine conduct “The Italian Girl in Algiers” and present Levine a lei. Roger Kaiser should be required to reimburse the Met for the cost of this careless act and issue a heartfelt apology to all of us whose weekend was ruined by his handiwork. I had a long 11-hour flight back to Honolulu Sunday morning.
Helen M. Wynn
Top of his class
Raleigh, N.C.: What a forgiving person Ben Chapman is wanting his harasser not to be prosecuted, but Bronx Science student Wataru Takada sure needs to do some serious community service for frightening Chapman and his family (“Cruel to KO kid,” Nov. 1). My generation would never have thought to do something as serious as threatening someone, and since it’s Chapman’s job to uncover this kind of nonsense, which is pretty serious stuff, who do these millennials think they are? For a young man with aspirations for the future this teen is not very bright! Good work, Ben.
Norman F. Middleton
Failing grade
Manhattan: I wish the Daily News would drop its attack on one of our better public schools and its students and, now, administrators. What was the news in the first place? That Bronx Science high school students were fighting after school, off campus? The News’ specious articles precipitated attacks from immature teenagers, which did become news. So then the news was about how high school students can be immature? That somehow the reporter felt his infant child was threatened by book-smart teens after picking a fight with them? Really? One fight that won’t occur this year will be over Ben Chapman’s Pulitzer nomination.
Jeff Ourvan
Can Comey
Tampa: FBI Director James Comey has made a terribly wrong assumption that he is unanswerable to anyone in government. He is, in fact, answerable to the President and the attorney general. If any other agency head did what he did in revealing investigative information, despite being directed not to do so, he or she would have been rightfully fired. The question of his arrogant disregard for this basic tenet cannot be ignored in light of the unacceptable precedent it sets. If either Ronald Reagan or Harry Truman were President and dealing with this or a similar problem, Comey would have suffered the same fate as Gen. Douglas MacArthur did during the Korean War. Chuck Hudson
Party line
Carmel, N.Y.: The Daily News’ Monday headline attacking James Comey was as predictable as it was intellectually weak (“FBI’s mad bomber,” Oct. 31). Attacking the attacker is straight out of the Hillary Clinton playbook. The only question is whether you get your marching orders directly from the Clintonistas — or do they have to filter through their preferred lap dogs at the New York Times, Washington Post and NBC? Isn’t the Daily News even a little embarrassed to be at the bottom of the Hillary sycophant food chain?
David Moody
Method to madness
Staten Island: While the Daily News gives reasons for James Comey to resign, it does not address any possible alternative that Comey may have had (“Fed mad bomber needs to resign,” editorial, Oct. 31). I seem to recall an exchange during the hearing between Rep. Jason Chaffetz and Comey about turning over any additional information, should it become available. Comey answered in the affirmative. He did as requested, but that’s not good enough for anyone. Consider this hypothetical, though: Comey does not disclose the existence of the information, Clinton wins and Trump sues to overturn the election results based on information as yet to be reviewed based on a “rigged system.” Is this what you’re advocating?
Robert Monteagudo
What’s he hiding?
Edison, N.J.: I wonder what skeletons FBI Director James Comey is hiding in his closet that could explain his breaking protocol. Perhaps he was hacked by the Russians, who gave the information to Breitbart, aka Trump and campaign CEO Steve Bannon, and they’re holding it over him in order to rig the election in their favor. One can only guess.
Diane Diamond
Outta the way, Lynch
Naples, Fla.: Every police officer in this country should march on Washington or send petitions to oust Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who has proven she cannot stay impartial or apolitical. The police work for us, the public, and the public has a right to have our police officers enforce the laws without having a lawbreaker resist arrest or assault our police. Tragic, yes, but Eric Garner caused the altercation. Garner broke many laws, but Lynch is only interested in the chokehold law the officer used to protect his own life against an attack by a lawbreaker twice his size. And with Garner’s obesity and who knows what other health issues, there is no proof that the chokehold caused his death. If you get hurt resisting arrest, it is no one else’s fault. With people like Lynch and Mayor de Blasio defending the criminals, why would anyone want to be a police officer? Suzanne Chute
No Russia
Holtsville, L.I.: According to the Democrats, Donald Trump is now a spy working for the Russians. It’s not going to work. Most Americans don’t believe a word they say anymore, after the last eight years of one lie after another, and now with Hillary Clinton.
Joseph Beyhl
Playing with fire
Paradise Valley, Pa.: Re “Trump supporter transforms her Pennsylvania house into shrine for Donald” (Oct. 29): How will she like it when he grabs her p---y? There is no cure for stupid, and stupid people do not know how stupid they are. Jeanette Friedman
Think of the kids
Yonkers: Congratulations to Rick Stromoski for the on-point comic in the Sunday paper. In choosing our leader, what we’re teaching our children is most important. Make America hate again is scary! I thought we had come so much further. Sad. Make sure you get out and vote, people!
Suzanne Hayes Kelly