web powered by 
Home 
Opinion Letters to the Editor for April 19, 2010
Letters to the Editor for April 19, 2010
|
Connections success To the editor: Hurray for Connections Academy for Visual and Performing Arts, an outstanding success story in the Mother Lode. Connections, a charter school, opened in 2001 on the Summerville High School campus with about 70 students. In 2010-11, enrollment is estimated to be 230. With Summerville High School’s enrollment down to about 410, the revenue generated by Connections is a significant factor in Summerville’s budget. Academically, Connections consistently scores at the top of all public schools in Tuolumne and Calaveras Counties. It has received the California Distinguished School Award. U.S. News and World Report magazine recognized Connections as one of the best 200 schools in the United States. Providing opportunities for seventh- through 12th-grade students, Connections is renowned for its performing and visual arts programs for those passionate about film-making, animation, theater, voice, dance and instrumental music. So well-recognized have the benefits of Connections become, that many families from all over the area, including homeschoolers, have asked Connections to expand to include fifth and sixth grades, and eventually, younger grades. Summerville High is Connection’s charter agent. Connections has proposed expanding to include 5th and 6th grade classes. Connections staff estimates that, if successful, the program expansion would generate an additional $25,000 in revenue to Summerville. Acknowledging economically challenging times, staff told the Summerville Board it would forgo the expansion if enrollment or finances were inadequate to succeed. Sounds like a win/win! The Summerville Board said “No.” My and many other families were shocked and deeply disappointed. What program could possibly be more deserving? We respectfully ask the Board to reconsider. Jody Kellerman Sonora Fabian socialism To the editor: A second letter was posted here within a week that denigrates Republicans (Chuck Holland, March 31, “Our Democratic Process”). This one has Republicans whining like children. Actually, Republicans took a principled stand for the people of America: Not one voted for the health insurance bill monstrosity. Their goal was to start over, producing a bipartisan series of bills to address many of the same issues without a takeover of health care. The Holland letter brings into play Fabian Socialism in America, a deliberately deceptive method of getting control over the people and their property while pretending to be merely helping the unfortunate. Every crisis or emergency is used as an excuse to greatly increase taxes. It constantly emphasizes that people should look to government to solve the problems of the poor, the sick, the unemployed, the elderly, the young, the bankrupt, the under-educated, the under-privileged, etc. There is also a constant emphasis on the transfer of power, from the individual to the local government and then from the local government to the federal government. The Obama Era has become a protracted, frightening Whack-A-Mole game of tax increases and bureaucratic self-enlargement, with an almost daily scheme to expand government and snatch more earnings from Americans’ pockets. From virtually the first day of his presidency, Obama and his top aides have advanced programs and initiatives that deepen and expand American citizens’ dependency on government. Obama is targeting people like Mr. Holland, who appear to be willing participants in a plan to transform America into a socialist nation. Hopefully, November’s midterm election will be a giant step toward restoring America’s future. Ray Anderson Sonora Is it fair? To the editor: Tax day is here again. I’m sure the Tea Partiers are up in arms complaining about how much we are taxed and where the money is going, with good cause. But most of them do not have to pay tax on their spouse’s health care like we do. They don’t have to pay their accountant extra to complete two sets of taxes because their marriage isn’t recognized federally. They can claim head of household, and take a huge deduction for the children they are raising in the marriage. We GLBT ( Gay, Lesbian, bisexual, transgender) people pay more in taxes than any other family in the same tax bracket. I won’t even receive her security upon the death of my spouse of more than 20 years. Is this fair to tax families more simply for who they are married to while denying them over 1,100 federal benefits? So the next time you all want to complain about how much you pay in taxes, remember that all of you pay less than we do, and receive a whole lot more in benefits from the fewer taxes you pay than us. Claudia Carlson, Columbia Claudia Carlson is a leader of Marriage Equality USA, Tuolumne County chapter. Curry cabins To the editor: Re: Camp Curry cabins and tent cabins damaged or condemned because of rock slides. I say, relocate them in a safer area, perhaps on the other side of the Curry parking lot, but do not reduce the number of cabins. I grew up in Yosemite in the 1950s and 60s, and lived there for six years. My dad, Jerry Caywood, worked for the Park Service as an electrical engineer and power-house operator and my mother, Marguerite, was a dietician at the hospital. I knew Ansel Adams and his wife, Virginia, personally, and have made photography my profession for 55 years. I have a great appreciation and love for Yosemite. I think the Park Service has done a great job preserving Yosemite’s natural beauty. However, I am appalled that it has eliminated over half of the campsites in the valley in the last 50 years. After the Merced River in the 1990s washed out some of the campsites, the NPS said “Let Mother Nature have her way and not replace them.” I hope and pray it doesn’t use this rock slide as an excuse not to replace the cabins. Folks with low to medium income can’t afford to stay at the Yosemite Lodge or the Ahwahnee Hotel. Camping or staying in Curry cabins has been a tradition for generations. Don’t take their joy and recreation away. Relocate or rebuild those cabins, and increase the number campsites to what it was 50 years ago. And it you really want to please the public, reinstate the Fire Fall, at least on special occasions. Check the history, the Indians did it before the white men came. Jim Caywood Sonora Biased journalism To the editor: Your editorial, “BOFG Board remains disappointing, dysfunctional,” is another fine example of biased journalism from folks off of the hill. Really, has (Acting Superintendent) Mike King done a thankless job, or is he just “cleaning things up” for the County Schools Office? Mr. King is leaving the Big Oak Flat-Groveland District in June. That shows you the amount of vested interest he has in helping out the district’s “dysfunctional” situation. The changes required to turn this district around don’t happen overnight. It will take many years to undo the financial mess and boost the morale of the district and its community. What the district doesn’t need to do is spend thousands of dollars on a search for “qualified” applicants for the superintendent’s job when there is an excellent candidate willing to take it. Why is the school board majority ignoring the leadership potential in Sandy Bradley? She has been a leader in the Groveland community for over 14 years. Why not hire her as superintendent for two years and put her skills to the test? She has a vested interest in the health of the district and the needs of our children. Despite the drama of the past year, this is the most important time to work together toward bringing the district back on track. Compromise needs to be reached, and leaders must reach out to each other. I hope the new board can set their personal issues aside and focus on why they were voted in — to reclaim our district from outsiders who think they know what’s best for our community. Shannon Boling Alameda (Shannon Boling is a 1999 graduate of Tioga High School whose parents still live in the district). |
Tuolumne front page
Get home delivery of the Union Democrat for only $7.00 a month. After filling out one simple and secure online form you could be on your way to learning more about your city, state and world than you ever have before.
