You should have done some homework before arguing for charter schools (“State should stop resisting charter schools,” Feb. 16).

How will charter schools address Maine’s shrinking student population, shorter year and relatively declining scores, or gotten Maine Race to the Top money?

Most studies show that charter schools are no better than public schools. Since charters compete for the same population while requiring their own teachers, buildings, administration, and oversight, Maine won’t reap any savings from them. And states that have charters failed to get Race to the Top money, too. You simply assume what you claim to prove.

You claim competition will improve all schools. But that assumes charter schools will offer higher standards, that enough charters will be available to offer practical choices, and that parents can recognize and act on those choices. Otherwise, we waste our money. You again beg the question by assuming that charters provide the advantages you claim.

Perhaps we should look to experience instead of assumptions. Diane Ravitch, assistant secretary of education from 1991 to 1993, was a former champion of charters. She’s now changed her mind.

As she explains in her book, “The Death and Life of the Great American School System,” business-model reforms such as charters really do more harm than good.

The Invisible Hand holds no magic wand. She now argues we must return to a curriculum grounded in the liberal arts and sciences that is taught in a setting that engages students. John Dewey understood this a century ago.

Another great educator, Robert Maynard Hutchins, argued, “The best education for the best is the best education for all.”

We don’t need more choices; the choice is clear: We need to get behind our existing public schools and stop looking for miracles.

David Lentini

North Berwick

As someone born and raised in Maine who cares deeply about ensuring that all children receive a high-quality education, I was disappointed to read “Another View: Charter schools privilege a few at the expense of the whole” (Feb. 20), which included numerous false assertions about charter schools.

Charter schools are public schools that accept students by random, public lottery. In Boston, Mass., where I live, charter schools conduct extensive outreach through community meetings, school fairs and mass mailings (all in multiple languages) to reach as many prospective families as possible and in particular low-income families, families for whom charter schools represent a school choice that they would not otherwise have.

Across the country, the vast majority of charter schools are independent or work in partnership with nonprofit organizations. Across Massachusetts, more than 26,000 children are enrolled in charter schools with 26,000 on waiting lists, an indication of the incredible level of parental demand.

Statewide, 46 percent of students in charter public schools are enrolled in the free/reduced lunch program, compared with 31 percent statewide.

A 2009 study showed that Boston charter schools have a very positive impact on student achievement at both the middle and high school levels, outperforming pilot schools and traditional district schools. Charter schools are among the city’s highest-performing schools.

(Charter schools that do not succeed do not have their charters renewed by the state — an important aspect of charter school legislation.)

Most significantly, charter schools most commonly adopt the mission of preparing students to graduate from college. Charter schools are successful because they offer a longer school day and school year, additional time on literacy and math, and extensive supports for struggling students.

Many charter school graduates will be the first in their families to earn a college degree. It seems hard to argue with that outcome.

Megan Coles Zug

Boston, Mass.

Gov. LePage gets valentine backing same-sex unions

Feb. 14 was Valentine’s Day, when we remember a bishop in the early church who believed that all people should have the right and ability to marry whom they love.

I am blessed to serve a United Church of Christ congregation in South Portland that believes in that same power. When the people of our state were asked about marriage equality, our congregation reaffirmed their faith that lesbian and gay couples should be granted the right to marry.

We didn’t come to this faith easily. It required a deeper understanding of Holy Scripture and legacy of saints beyond St. Valentine. In our study and prayer, we affirmed the belief of St. Valentine that indeed — all people in our church and our state should be blessed with the benefits of marriage.

All lesbian and gay couples should be honored with the legal recognition of their love.

On Feb. 14, I attempted to carry on the ministry of St. Valentine. I sent a letter to Gov. Paul LePage to ask him to commit himself to the freedom to marry in Maine. I know that there are many issues that our state government must tackle — but on this particular Valentine’s Day, I’m thinking about the hearts that are still broken in the community I serve in South Portland.

For those broken hearts, the outcome that claimed Yes on 1 rejected their love. Yes on 1 meant that their neighbors didn’t honor the love experienced by our lesbians and gays.

I believe that love is bigger than what any one of our neighbors might claim. I believe that our state must find that same faith that recognizes the love in every relationship. I hope that Gov. LePage found that same power in my valentine.

Rev. Elsa A. Peters

Associate Pastor

First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ

South Portland

Underwater noise no issue if it’s not underwater

Jack Boak suggests in a letter I have missed the “big picture” in my recent Maine Voices column regarding restrictions on marine pile driving.

He suggests I don scuba gear to hear for myself the “deafening compression vibration noise” that affects marine life.

It is the DEP and other regulators that have failed to see the big picture. Both of the projects referred to in my column were sheet pile seawalls that are completely high and dry at low tide.

Wayne W. Duffett, P.E.

South Portland