Scot Lehigh’s“The charter school bargain’’ not only nailed the dramatic positive measures in which charters are outperforming their district peers, but it also pointed out that they are more cost-effective.

Lehigh let some of our elected officials — notably, Boston city councilors — off the hook, though, by not asking why they weren’t demanding that the Legislature fully fund the mandated years after a student has left a district school, if that is, as they’ve stated, their primary concern.

And he could well have asked the Boston Teachers Union to explain why Boston teachers are apparently unable, or unwilling, to learn how to teach non-cognitive skills — such as emotional restraint, patience, empathy, and interpersonal skills — to students who may be living in stressful or even dysfunctional homes in low-income or high-crime neighborhoods where the opportunity to learn these skills is greatly diminished. Charter school teachers have had to learn how.

Charles Grigsby

Jamaica Plain

The writer is a former board member and chairman of the Massachusetts Board of Education.