As a parent of three children in middle and high school, I am concerned about the impact of the timing of final California state budget decisions on the quality of education in our local schools. The current proposal cuts away 85 percent of the local real estate tax contribution from the school budget. Given California's history, it's likely that the budget will not be final until late summer.

The school districts are in the impossible position of needing to decide how many teachers to lay off many months before they have a clear idea of how serious the cuts will be. To comply with employment agreements, the teachers must be notified by March 15 of potential layoffs. In the worst scenario, one-third of the staff would be laid off.

The likely implications are very grave. Many of the best teachers will leave the area due to the length of time that they won't know if they have a position. Schools, students and parents will have to make very critical decisions without having any idea what the budgetary parameters will be and what our local schools will offer.

Gray Davis must not be allowed to balance the state's budget at the expense of our schools and children. If he takes away property taxes from education, what's to stop him from taking any parcel taxes that we pass to help our schools. Our schools are already funded below the national average. We owe it to our children's future to ensure that they receive a quality education today.

—Ron Maltiel, Yuba Court


Council should focus on Saratoga, not Iraq

After reading the Feb. 5 issue of the Saratoga News, I cannot tell you how disappointed I am with our city council as they consider "passage of an antiwar resolution." As best I can recall, we elected our city council to address the issues we face locally, not those events halfway around the globe. In this time of geo-political uncertainty, it would be nice to see our elected leaders focus on the job they were hired to do rather than wasting time on issues they have no ability to influence or control.

—Barbara Bond, La Paloma Avenue


Bogosian's energies should be in Saratoga

I read with disgust the suggestion that the Saratoga City Council is considering passage of an anti-war resolution. I fully support the president's resolve to disarm a regime that has a history of lying, ignoring previous UN resolutions, has used chemical weapons on its own people, tortured its own people, attacked a neighboring country and, when defeated in its previous attack on Kuwait, left the country lighting afire all the oil fields it could find.

If Stan Bogosian can't understand the problem with Iraq given its history, then I question his ability to address problems in Saratoga, which is where the council should be spending its energies! The citizen comment about worrying about retaliatory attacks is just asinine. When will the people of this country take a stand for what is right? Evil flourishes when good men do nothing.

—David Leitzell, Comer Drive


Stadium issue needs permanent solution

It was disappointing to learn from the article in the Feb. 5 Saratoga News that the negotiations between the governing board of West Valley­Mission Community College District, the City of Saratoga and West Valley homeowners did not culminate in a permanent solution to the stadium issues.

The district's decades-long effort to renege on its agreement with the city has imposed huge costs and caused an enormous waste of time and energy for the college district, the city, and residents.

The heaviest impact has been upon the district's students, since the board's intransigence caused the failure of a much-needed bond issue. The board apparently still does not understand that there will be heavy opposition to any bond measures, regardless of whether or not they explicitly include funds for a stadium, until they put in place a permanent enforceable guarantee that the district will abide by its original agreement with the city.

—Don Whetstone, Vickery Avenue