In his letter to the editor printed Aug. 12, Mr. Harold Williams
of San Jose says,
”
Ms. Walker suggests that anyone who is issued a (sic)
administrative citation will be denied their rights of due process
of law, but does not say how.
”
In his letter to the editor printed Aug. 12, Mr. Harold Williams of San Jose says, “Ms. Walker suggests that anyone who is issued a (sic) administrative citation will be denied their rights of due process of law, but does not say how.”
Two corrections: I did not suggest; I stated. Secondly, I most certainly did say how. I quoted the letter that all Gilroy residents received during the first few days of July. To recapitulate, the letter from the city of Gilroy said: “Fireworks Enforcement Notice: If you or someone at your home is seen by any City Code Enforcement, police officer, or firefighter, using illegal fireworks you will be sent an administrative citation, by mail, of between $250 and $750. There is no evidence or notification requirement.”
In my opinion, fining someone without letting him know what the evidence against him is, or notifying him as to the charges, or confronting him with witnesses, or providing a jury trial is an infringement of the Fifth and Sixth Amendments, which I also quoted.
Mr. Williams has a long history of reading the exact same information I do and drawing wildly different conclusions, so this current letter is no surprise … except for the news that he has apparently moved to San Jose, yet still feels compelled to comment on Gilroy’s internal affairs.
For the life of me, I cannot imagine keeping up with and commenting on the ordinances and conditions in Campbell, Ceres, Columbus, or Caracas. It must be nice to have so much time on one’s hands.
—
In his guest column of the same date, Mr. Dale Morejon once again claims to know what I am thinking. Give it up, Mr. Morejon. Telepathy is not your gift. I have no problem, bluntly and candidly, saying exactly what I mean. It’s my job; I’m good at it.
Mr. Morejon’s responses to what I don’t say, to what he imagines my inferences are, may reflect his own defensiveness. They do not match any real thoughts that actually occur in my head.
The most peculiar thing about Mr. Morejon’s repeated writings is this: over 85 percent of school children attend public schools. About 12 percent attend private school; very few homeschool. Why is Mr. Morejon so threatened by my dissent? Can’t he tolerate a little diversity of opinion from one small town hack? Shouldn’t he be focusing his attention on bettering public education? Oh, wait; he does not list that duty in his job description. Silly me.
One thing Mr. Morejon said pleased me very much, to wit: “… she adds little or nothing to better the education community other than her push for Saxon textbooks in the local math curricula.” I am delighted that even our local teachers’ union hack admits that adopting Saxon math would better our local math curricula.
Through no fault of my own, I had an in-depth look at GHS’s geometry text this summer: a horrifying experience. I also have been avidly reading and listening to the comments of GUSD math educators regarding the reasons for GUSD’s poor performance in math.
(Time out: Congratulations to GUSD for raising the STAR scores a little! That is so much better than decreasing them a little. Keep up the good trend.)
In GUSD, the percentage of students testing proficient or above peaks in third grade. From second grade to seventh the percentages testing proficient are: 54, 63, 51, 41, 37, and 41 percent. Then the scores worsen: from 8th to 11th grade the percent testing proficient in algebra are: 84, 19, 9, and 6; from 9th to 11th the percents in geometry are: 44, 16, and 5.
Two problems are cited by educators as cause for these abysmal results. First, students have not mastered the math skills they need to succeed in the next class. Secondly, many elementary school teachers are good at patience but not too good at fractions.
Saxon math could help with both these problems. Saxon is based on the principle of constant review; hence skills are mastered and retained. Each lesson is laid out clearly; even a non-mathematical fourth grade teacher could master and present the information.
Bonuses for good math teachers could help GUSD to retain them, but don’t expect our local union hacks to promote that idea.
Cynthia Anne Walker is a homeschooling mother of three and former engineer. She is a published independent author. Her column is published in The Dispatch every week.
