Regarding the Feb. 19 article "Wilkinsburg School Board Discusses Borrowing $3 Million to Maintain Cash Flow," it's unfortunate that some school district officials chose to blame charter schools for their own mismanagement.

Rather than recognizing that students are leaving districts because parents are choosing schools that provide a better environment for learning and are more effective in meeting their children's needs, they blindly defend the status quo and confidently, but erroneously, cast the blame on others.

Districts need to do only two things if they want to stop parents from moving to charter schools -- listen and change. Listen to what the parents are saying and change to meet the needs of the parents and children. That's difficult to do, but the growing number of children moving to charter schools is testimony to districts' inability or unwillingness to do either.

LAWRENCE F. JONES JR.
President
Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools
West Chester, Pa.

First Published: February 25, 2013, 5:00 a.m.