New Orleans Schools - NYTimes.com Re "Can School Reform Hurt Communities?" (Sunday Review, June 16): Sarah Carr is correct that in our efforts to improve education, New Orleans has unwittingly split schools and communities. The dismantling of the neighborhood school system has led to a fundamental weakening of the city's culture and our connections with one another, including the access to educational support (recreation, tutoring, mentoring, enrichment, health and social services) that was once a hallmark of our system. School attendance and completion, adolescent health and social behavior have all suffered. For school choice to work, children will need an easy way to receive educational support services at the neighborhood level. Our coalition of 40 agencies, including schools, faith-based groups, museums, health providers and others serving children, is doing that. Working together with government, families and neighbors, we are reknitting community connections within the new framework of citywide access, better preparing our young people - and our city - for successful futures. MATHEW SCHWARZMAN Dir., New Orleans Kids Partnership New Orleans, June 19, 2013