The seeds of the Upper Delaware Community Network

After being away for eight years, it’s beyond wonderful to be back in our beautiful river valley, with all the pleasures and challenges of rural life. It is also wonderful to be rejoining the Upper Delaware Community Network. In saying that, I urge any reader who has not joined to consider doing so.

Bruised and battered in heart and soul by the terrors and tragedies of that terrible day of shattered brilliant blue skies, brisk winds barely presaging autumn’s chills, a morning when so much that we believed in came crashing down in Lower Manhattan, into the Pentagon and upon an anonymous field in Shanksville, PA, I fled my beloved Morningside Heights home for Milanville, clutching my two-year-old daughter, and behind me, a husband abandoned to navigate an armed city still possibly under threat and where the air was sullied with the toxins of terrorism. 

Jane Cyphers and Beverly Sterner, both of River Road, came to our back door. Bev said, among other things, “Don’t you think it would be a good idea if some of us got together and talked about what has happened?”

So we did. I remember Tracey Gass Ranze reading a moving poem and Bev wielding something called a talking stick, but not much beyond that—except that we talked and talked and talked, and while nothing could undo what had fallen upon us, we connected through our fear, grief and uncertainty.

And the talking continued as that first meeting evolved into “Gatherings,” which Beverly initiated. We assembled monthly in one member or household’s home, and community ties were knotted together over potluck dinners and deep words and light chat about everything from the threat of high voltage power lines planned for the New York side of the Delaware to the secrets of effective composting. In each other’s homes and, eventually, online we found our way into each other’s hearts and minds, forging communality. 

And so it began, the Upper Delaware Community Network, a point of connection for everything from the most prosaic to issues of grave concern. I now understand it has nearly 1,000 members.

From small things, great good can grow. And when we unite, when the world seems to be imploding around us, the earth beneath our feet suddenly feels like terra firma.

Cynthia Nash
Milanville, PA/New York, NY

See groups.io/g/UDCommunityNetwork to join.

School choice benefits students

I believe in school choice for Pennsylvania, because I am a product of school choice. 

I attended private and public schools through the ‘70s and ‘80s. Also, I appreciate the high-quality education my children and grandchildren have received at public brick-and-mortar charter schools, cyber public schools, traditional public schools and private schools. 

It has been amazing to choose for each of my children and grandchildren which schools met their unique needs. I am proud to say that my adult children all contribute positively to my society from the skills and knowledge they acquired at Pennsylvania schools. My oldest granddaughter has been accepted to six universities here in Pennsylvania, due to her public charter and private school education, and her hard work. Would these outcomes be the same if our zip code had dictated our schools? 

The ongoing debate around funding school choice in Pennsylvania has damaged our national and local reputation as a state that doesn’t value education. It has hurt how teachers feel about teaching. It has impaired young people’s desire to become teachers. It has caused division in our communities. It is hard to believe that there is even a debate when all of the funds come ultimately from taxpayers like you and me. 

It is time to put all differences aside. It is time to see ourselves as a state that values high-quality education for all children and adults, from kindergarten through post-high school studies. We must declare that we value our students, parents, teachers and leaders. We must empower our school boards to make appropriate decisions on the future of our schools, and always keep sight of the fact that the parents, grandparents and communities are paying for our schools. Everyone’s voice is needed and matters, and will allow all schools to create opportunity, innovation and unity for all children of Pennsylvania. 

The Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools will continue to be the catalyst for educational excellence through opportunity, innovation and unity. 

Stakeholders, to learn more about advocacy, please visit 143krising.com. Also, please join us, with millions of school choice supporters across the nation during National School Choice Week, by sharing your story on social media. To learn more, visit schoolchoiceweek.com/.  

Dr. Anne Clark, CEO 
Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools

Skinners Falls bridge: there’s a reason for the report’s delay

That the PennDOT time frame to release a final report on the verdict regarding the future of the Skinners Falls Bridge has been pushed back to 2025 is ridiculous. It is a measure of incompetence that it should take so long to issue a final report and decision regarding the fate of the bridge. But it is likely that the delay has more to do with a strategy whereby PennDOT thinks that the community will forget how upset it is with its closing and the way the project has been handled. PennDOT and their engineers know well that given another two years of neglect, it will be more difficult to restore and easier for them to justify condemnation.

Joe Levine
Milanville, PA