Perhaps Alex Beam could use a reading lesson from Boston Latin School (“The politics of a BLS education,’’ Opinion, Oct. 4). The US attorney took action not because a student tweeted “Racism is dead we have a black president,’’ but because Latin failed to properly follow up with a black student whose peer said he’d lynch her with an electrical cord. The city has rightly committed to addressing incidents such as this. Too bad Beam missed the memo.

Even more troubling is Beam’s eagerness to equate greater diversity at Latin with “abandoning meritocratic principles.’’ Exam school admission is currently determined by grades and a standardized test. This approach is no more meritorious than, for example, allowing the best students at each Boston public school, or in each neighborhood, to earn a seat at the crown jewel of our system. Doing so would balance against a process skewed by test prep programs and grading variation among private, charter, and district schools.

Our city’s prospects are brightest when its students — and future leaders — can learn from and with each other. Boston Latin fostered this diversity well into the 1990s. We can do it again, if we’re committed to it.

Matt Cregor

Education project director

Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice

Boston