Charter School's Goal - NYTimes.com Re "An Upstairs-Downstairs Divide at a Public School Building in East Harlem" (Gotham column, June 26): Michael Powell attributes to Success Academies and to me personally a desire to quash district schools. I am accused of yearning to drive some public schools "into the East River." Our motivations are the complete opposite. We cherish public education. We not only want to create world-class public schools (charters are public schools), but we also want to reform district schools. Indeed, they are sinking and will end up at the bottom of the East River if we do not change our course of action radically. Right now, 67 percent of the 1,071 elementary and middle schools in New York State have fewer than 50 percent of children passing the state reading exam. Let's all work together to save our district schools from ending up at the bottom of the East River. The writer, a former city councilwoman, is chief executive of Success Academy Charter Schools.