While recently researching what differentiates successful schools from the others, one thing stood out to me: Communities that believe their parcel tax dollars go only to their schools have much greater success raising money to fund them. Districts with one or two high schools fare much better in passing parcel taxes, and the educational success it seems to buy is more effective than for districts with four or more.

Size plainly matters when it comes to funding public education, and smaller usually means better. Communities like Angels Camp in Calaveras County, with one high school and one middle school, now have schools improving at a faster rate than schools with similar racial profiles in multi-school school districts.

If a negative term has to be applied, "community self-centeredness" better explains this phenomenon far better than racism. The Los Gatos­Saratoga Joint Union High School District is a good example. Two towns, two high schools, a predominance of Asians in one school, whites and a handful of non-Asian minorities in the other, high income and parent involvement in both, and the district ranks second in the state. The racial divide is apparent, but it doesn't stop either school from succeeding.

We can't control where people want to live or why they want to live there, but we can organize our school districts around the concept that "small is beautiful."

D.K. Sweet

Wainwright Drive

The unions, not lack of
funds, hurting schools

Besty Wolf-Graves wants to change Proposition 13 tax rules in order to increase tax revenues from commercial properties ("A new look at property tax would help schools," Speak Out, Jan. 13). What she apparently forgets is that businesses effectively do not pay taxes. They (a) pass the added cost to their customers through increased prices or cost reductions that frequently mean lower employee pay or even job cuts, (b) move to a more business friendly place, such as Nevada or India, or (c) go out of business.

Our schools are failing not because of a lack of funds, but rather because education labor unions protect incompetent personnel and foster mediocrity through arcane work rules and pay based upon seniority rather than merit. It also does not help that many students come from broken homes where there is a lack of structure, respect and discipline, let alone any teaching of right from wrong or respect for a good education. The well known abuses of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 over what constitutes a learning disability that must be accommodated within the regular curriculum has also served to promote anarchy in the classroom.

Until schools are subject to accountability and parents take a greater role in their kids' education, it is doubtful that there will be significant improvements in the quality of public school education.

Jerry Mungai

Fall River Drive

There are others who
help with depression

Stuart Krigel states ("Psychiatrists can help with depression, too," Speak Out, Jan. 13) that "Psychiatrists are the only mental health professionals trained to diagnose and treat depression...." This is incorrect. Psychologists, family therapists, social workers, and (I presume) nurse practitioners who prescribe are also trained to diagnose and treat depression. His next phrase, "...and rule out possible medical illnesses that could be masquerading as depression" is misleading in that internists, family practitioners, and other physicians also diagnose related medical conditions and also often prescribe for depression. If he means that psychiatrists can do both, this is correct, but his sentence as a whole is misleading.

Linda Riebel

San Jose

Dando's 'scrubbing'
of official history fits

Well, I can't say I'm surprised about the latest development in the ongoing saga titled the "Dirty Deeds of Dando." Pat Dando taking all of her files with her is exactly the kind of thing she would do ("Removal of District 10 files raises questions," Jan. 13).

By spiriting away from the District 10 office any documents that might later prove to be incriminating, she is effectively "scrubbing" her official history. Who will be able to challenge her stated facts if future questions arise without any documents to look through?

All of her machinations to get her way on a host of issues over the last 10 years could be laid bare under the gaze of new city councilwoman Nancy Pyle and her staff, who owe her no loyalty. And Dando's attempt to smooth over the rift--by saying that she asked Pyle if she wanted to keep the files and Pyle said no--didn't do much to foster a growing friendship between herself and Pyle.

I had always had a fairly high opinion of Dando for most of her time in office, but that's because there was never anything critical written about her. The scales have fallen from my eyes, thanks in large part to the Almaden Resident.

Please don't let up on holding our city officials to account.

Dennis Chambers

Royalwood Way