Looking forward to voting out City Council
It's ironic that the people that refused to give us the right to vote on air cargo at Moffett Field feel compelled to give us their opinions (The Sun, Oct. 30) on the Nov. 5 election.
The election I am really looking forward to is the one where we vote the Sunnyvale City Council out of office.
John Giever
Sunnyvale
216 favors patients
I am writing in response to Katherine Petersen's coverage of the Sunnyvale City Council's opinions on state initiatives (The Sun, Oct. 30). I am concerned about the remark that opponents of Proposition 214 "consider this proposition to be bogus health-care reform."
Once again, the health insurance industry is using scare tactics to persuade California voters that any attempt to reclaim control of our health care will result in higher taxes and insurance premiums.
Proposition 214 contains many of the provisions found in the Patient Protection Act, Proposition 216, but is missing key enforcement issues, such as the establishment of a self-funded consumer watchdog group to provide scrutiny of the industry.
Proposition 216 requires a two-thirds majority to overturn in the legislature. Proposition 214 allows the initiative to be overturned by a simple majority vote.
Proposition 216 pays for itself 100 percent by placing penalty fees on excessive HMO executive pay and multibillion-dollar mergers. This will fund all costs for enforcing Proposition 216, and will provide for much-needed community emergency and disease-prevention programs.
To ensure real patient protection, Proposition 216 must pass.
Colleen O'Leary-Kelley, RN
Sunnyvale
Liberals need to learn about education system
Liberal response to my recent letters on teaching has been very interesting. Allow me to drop a few more facts into the hopper for your perusal.
In March 1996, U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley said that in the most recent national reading tests, California tied for last place with Louisiana and that, worldwide, our students were just above the island of Guam. I suggest that we get back to basics like (dare I say the word) phonics! But not to worry, liberals; Your NEA has denounced back-to-basics programs as "irrelevant and reactionary." So our kids can't read. So what?
One of the responders to my "hasty" writings took me to task for what I said about SAT scoring. Apparently I was wrong about dumbing down the SAT tests.
Last spring, the liberals made changes in the way SAT tests were graded. The average verbal score was changed to show an 80-point increase per student, and math scores were boosted by 20 points. In the face of such fraud, folks, is it any wonder that liberals refuse to be identified as liberals?
R. Bowlby
Cupertino
Resolution, not retribution
Thank you for covering the Fremont Union High School District board election. The two articles published so far are well-written overall, but I need to point out that the one on me concerning board reorganization last summer needs to be expanded, especially since there was community uproar, and the 3-2 split board action was very unpopular and divisive. It must be pointed out that since then, two of the three trustees who voted for reorganization have apologized to me (which I have accepted, and in my books the reorganization vote is now 1 to 4), one actually in public during the Oct. 15 board meeting.
It is heartwarming to me that we can finally begin to put the issue behind us and concentrate on the main function of our school board, which is to maximize the development of the human potential inherent in all our young people. We on the board need to be role models of integrity, teamwork, understanding, and dedication to our students, and we must walk the walk, not just talk the talk, through the decisions we make. We must admit at least to ourselves that we sometimes do err, but the important part is that we must ask ourselves what we can do to correct the injustice perpetrated, whether it is accidental or intentional.
As I said during the election forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters and PTA, a board member's main focus should be on our students, not egos or personal power. I seek no retribution, but resolution. As a matter of fact, I quoted Confucius--"Do not do unto others what you would not like others do unto you"--a beautiful way of expressing our Golden Rule.
The school board is elected by our community. It is supposed to represent the best instincts and the best interests of our total community. I strongly believe that our highly educated, well-meaning and diverse community can help our school district not only to keep our excellence, but to reach new heights as well.
Homer Tong
FUHSD board member
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, November 6, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.