Congratulations on becoming elected President. I am an eighth grade student at the Spence School. While I'm fortunate to go to a private school and receive a high quality education, many children from minority families in NYC do not have the same opportunities. Many of the public schools are failing, the children can barely read or write and, tragically, many drop out before they even finish high school.

There is hope, however. New charter schools, such as Success Academy, have achieved very positive academic results for their students. In fact, although Success Charter Schools are in the same neighborhood as failing public schools, their students, which are 94% minority, rank in the top 1% of all students in New York State in math and reading scores. Even though these schools provide an outstanding opportunity for minority children to advance in society, the New York City government has tried to prevent them from expanding and even tried to shut them down.

I sincerely hope that as President you will help the out-performing charter schools survive and grow so that our most disadvantaged children will have the chance for an excellent education and a brighter future.