Charter schools, Obama’s hypocrisy on torture and abortion and a
pointed shot at the bullet train plan
Look beyond the charter school fantasy – get informed with facts
Dear Editor,
Rubens Dalaison’s letter to editor about vouchers, charters and public schools was quite confusing.
For the uninformed, California charter schools are public schools where vouchers are not awarded. Local government has no authority providing vouchers to private schools as this is a state legislative action.
Are charter schools providing “… a better education for their kids and as a safer environment for their kids to learn in” than noncharter schools? There are no statewide data to verify such a comment.
Even in schools that are underperforming based upon state API or federal AYP scores, parents consistently grade their neighborhood schools as very good or excellent. “Safe” and “better” school environments are more heartfelt than objectively determined. The comment “…(charter school) teachers seem to get paid better with competitive benefits;” is not supported by any educational studies. Independent charters traditionally have lower salaries and benefits with longer work days as the employer unilaterally sets compensation and working conditions.
Dependent charter school teachers, who are still district employees, receive the same compensation as other district teachers. A 2007 Western Michigan University study of teacher attrition rates in charter schools stated that though teachers were optimistic about their schools, high annual attrition rates (20-25 percent) suggest problems with working conditions and dissatisfaction with salaries, benefits, administration, and governance.
Dale Morejón, Gilroy
Torturing terrorists wrong, but killing the unborn is endorsed?
Dear Editor,
We are seriously entering some very strange and dark times in this country. Continued hypocrisy from King Barack Hussein Obama II has me floored again.
In one case he is willing to expose the most secret documents and information about our country such as how CIA interrogates the captured terrorists to gain information that will save American lives (i.e. the plans to crash an airplane into the tallest building in Los Angeles), yet when it comes to the least secretive information such as his birth certificate to prove whether he was born in this country or not he wouldn’t release it.
So, his birth certificate is more secretive than elements of our national security. Secondly, the King is so concerned about the torcher of terrorists who had set out to kill Americans. He wants them freed and treated with respect, yet he favors the killing of unborn babies at any stage of their lives. He shows not a bit concern about how the unborn feels about their safety and freedom. Folks, there are darker places in this world than Guantanamo where innocent human beings are being killed at a rate of 4,000 a day – places where human beings who have not laid a finger on anyone, said a single word about your freedom or what religion you believe in or even what race or color you are, and yet are being killed just because their caretakers say it can be done.
There are worse things being done to these innocent lives than any of the terrorists in Guantanamo will ever experience. None of the terrorists will have chemicals poured on them to be burned alive. None of them will have their brains sucked out of them and then flushed down the toilet. None of them will have a pair of scissors puncture their heads and be left there to die.
These are the types of torchers your King and messiah is 100 percent behind.
But when it comes to Islamic terrorists who have only one thing in mind – complete destruction of the infidels which means you and I and whoever is not a Muslim – he wants to be kind to them. Please tell me I’m having a really bad nightmare and will wake up soon before the Constitutions will have “Life” replaced with “Abortion,” “Liberty” replaced with “Socialism” and “Pursuit of Happiness” replaced with “Welfare.”
Dave Kaeini, Gilroy
Tunnels beneath Gilroy and Morgan Hill for the bullet train …?
Dear Editor,
If the bullet train tunnels are to be constructed beneath downtown Morgan Hill, and then again in downtown Gilroy, and if it costs $50 per inch to build, then what will be the cost of tunneling through downtown Morgan Hill and Gilroy?
If each downtown is one mile long, then $50 x 12 x 5,280 = $3,168,000 per tunnel, times two, one for each town.
If the cost per inch is higher, adjust accordingly. If length of tunnel is more or less, adjust accordingly. Whew!
That still does not solve the problem of Union Pacific, which owns the tracks, rejection of the California High Speed Rail Association’s plan to build on UP’s property.
Joe Thompson, Gilroy
