LETTERS: Ravitch switch, absent dads and more

Ravitch switched sides for profit

So let's get this straight. Former assistant secretary of education Diane Ravitch, once a vocal supporter of the Bush administration's misguided No Child Left Behind plan , now opposes it to the tune of $15,000 per speech and even has the gall to sell a book in which she rails against the very policies she supported so vigorously. . . one who starts a war and then sells ammunition to both sides.

She deserves to be cast on the scrap heap of irrelevance and ought to be ignored. True contrition would compel her to donate $15,000 to every legitimate organization naive enough to provide her with a platform for her hypocrisy.

Michael Cohen

Brightwaters

Editor's note: The writer is retired superintendent of Brentwood schools.

Where are the dads?

Forgive me, but I am doing some old-school math here. It seems Rachel Perales, who is 35 with four children ages 17, 11, 8 and 1, started having babies at the age of 18 . She is now in the unfortunate position of homelessness with these kids, and nowhere in your article was there a mention of the father or fathers of her children.

I'm not the slightest bit interested in these sorts of stories as they are not "hard luck." These are people who routinely choose no-win situations in life, and expect others to clean up the mess.

If more people acted responsibly and thought through the ramifications of their impulsive actions, we'd be in a much better situation as a nation.

Andrea Malone-Polydor

Garden City

Raiding fund a bad way to save parks

Richard Amper, director of the Long Island Pine Barrens Society, is right . The New York State Legislature caved in to threats by Gov. David A. Paterson to close some parks, thus allowing the governor to pull off a grand theft from the Environmental Protection Fund. The EPF is a capital projects fund, reserved for large one-time expenses such as land acquisition, recycling facilities, landfill closures, historic preservation and water protection. The EPF was never meant to fund state agency operations, parks maintenance or budget shortfalls.

Our representatives in Albany have set a dangerous precedent with this deal. I traveled to Albany in March to fight to keep our parks and historic sites open this summer - but not at the expense of raiding the EPF. Our elected officials have done more harm than good. Some in Albany had the courage to say "no deal" but, sadly, not nearly enough.

Patricia Burkhart

Deer Park

Editor's note: The writer is president of Friends of the Edgewood Preserve.