Gilroy is getting so noisy with all the sirens from police cars,
and fire trucks, not to mention the helicopters flying
overhead.
&
amp;#8194;
We live off
&
amp;#8194;First Street
&
amp;#8194;and sometimes it is three times a day or more.
&
amp;#8194; What is going on in this town?
&
amp;#8194;If it is gangs we need the police presence in the
streets and after 11 p.m. if people are in groups, in the streets,
they need to be looked at.
&
amp;#8194;Decent, law-abiding citizens are in their homes, in
bed by then.
Crime skyrocketing based on all the sirens and noise – time to go!
Dear Editor,
Gilroy is getting so noisy with all the sirens from police cars, and fire trucks, not to mention the helicopters flying overhead.
We live off First Street and sometimes it is three times a day or more. What is going on in this town? If it is gangs we need the police presence in the streets and after 11 p.m. if people are in groups, in the streets, they need to be looked at. Decent, law-abiding citizens are in their homes, in bed by then.
Get real – Gilroy isn’t a small town like it was in 1965 when my family moved here. I noticed the Pacific Bail Bonds office on First Street is for lease, why? If there is so much crime, they should be really busy and not closed. I will not retire here, I want to go to a smaller, peaceful town.
Sandra McCoy, concerned long time resident
Mr. McRae, a lack of ‘All-Star’ teachers hardly the issue in Gilroy
Dear Editor,
Since the state budget crisis has had its effect on Gilroy Unified School District, I’ve been reading the subsequent articles and letters to the editor from readers and professionals for and against the cuts being made by the Board of Education.
While I appreciate Mr. McRae’s support of our Board doing the best job possible under severely saddening and limiting budget restraints, and I agree with his assertion that school and teacher success is “ALL about the funding”, I do wish to voice a disagreement over this assumption of Mr. McRae’s: “That’s why our test scores remain low year after year regardless of programs. We don’t have the all-star talent coming out of Stanford and Harvard, and coming to teach in Gilroy.”
Mr. McRae, I understand the point you are trying to make, however I feel it is necessary for me to point out that the teaching staff that we have here in Gilroy IS an all-star collection of teachers. While not a graduate of Harvard or Stanford (most students who attend those educational programs never enter the public school classroom but go on to doctorates and collegiate teaching positions), I did attend a four-year university, graduated with my BA in three years, completed two credential programs at once in one year, and graduated in the top 5 percent of my graduating class of almost 1,000 students.
I relay this information not to brag of my accomplishments but so that parents and community members alike will feel more comfortable and affirmed that their children are indeed in knowledgeable and competent hands. I am not the only “all-star” teacher fresh from college to come to Gilroy. There are many who have migrated here over the years with the hopes of making a sincere difference in this community of English language learners and low-socio-economic families. THAT, Mr. McRae, is why our test scores are low – not because of the aptitude of Gilroy’s teachers, but because we are in classrooms that are under-supported by our district’s ever-decreasing budget and by the parents and families of our students who are overburdened with financial and social issues of their own.
When a student arrives into my classroom without pencils or paper, with no steady home address, is loved and cared for by a parent who barely graduated high school and currently works three jobs and can’t check his/her child’s homework every night or attend parent conferences, and when this child has only a moderate grasp of English because Spanish is the only language spoken at home from birth … I ask you, how could even an “all-star” cope with so many obstacles to ensure that this student pass a test that is written in such tricky and formal English that I would hazard to say that most adults wouldn’t even pass it with a very high score?
Now, multiply that one student by 36 and you’d be looking at my class from last year. We have qualified, quality, all-star teachers here and playing the game, Mr. McRae. What we’re lacking is the funding and community support to move our “teams” of students from the little leagues to the pros.
Stacey Falconer, 6th Grade Teacher, South Valley Middle School
This letter was given the Golden Quill, which is awarded occasionally for a well-written letter.
Plenty of cash to buy new land, but not enough to keep Coe open?
Dear Editor,
How is it that these cheap politicians are willing to cut funding and potentially put a family out of a job by possibly closing Coe State Park, but there are obviously millions of dollars to go around to create a new park out of the Blair family ranch?
Someone should do something about this so that adorable family in the article doesn’t get uprooted with such a small, nature-loving child.
Keep Coe State Park open. Keep nature the way it was intended to be.
Chris Covielloin, Gilroy
