The Willow Glen Resident

Letters

Columnist should do her homework on San Jose Unified

Regarding the Aug. 19 "Point of View" column written by Deborah Taylor-Hollis, I would like to make a few comments to dispel the writer's misinformation about testing, the San Jose Unified School District and public schools in California. This is the first year that Stanford 9 tests were administered in California. The results will serve as a baseline to measure improvement in the future. Change over time is the goal, and in three years California will have an excellent measure of the effectiveness of its programs. Ms. Taylor-Hollis is scornful to see San Jose Unified test scores fall just above the state and national average and demands that we achieve 100 percent. I know of no test in which all students achieve 100 percent. For the past three years, San Jose Unified's scores have been improving; the rate of improvement has been accelerating, and we have fixed our sights steadily higher. That is a trend to be encouraged, not insulted.

No single test should be used to make judgments about school performance. The Stanford 9 test itself is intended by the state to be used along with other measures to evaluate school performance. The intention of this and all tests is to provide schools with the data they need to make improvements, not to compare schools against each other as Ms. Taylor-Hollis has done, without evaluating other factors. San Jose Unified is performing above state and national averages and in many cases above the county average. This is not a shameful baseline.

In the High School Performance Report released by the state last month, SJUSD students show continuing growth in every academic area over the last four years. A parent stated that she would feel fortunate to have her child in any school in Santa Clara Valley.

I'm sorry that Taylor-Hollis is so negative about schools and education. One needs to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. Bashing public education is so easy and promotes a climate of divisiveness and hostility directed at our children and teachers. This is not what the Willow Glen and San Jose Unified community is all about.

As to the rest of Taylor-Hollis' criticism of SJUSD, my answer is to challenge you to pick up the phone and call me (535-6078) and get involved. The SJUSD provides dozens of opportunities to be involved in decision-making at the school or district level, including the Budget Advisory Committee that meets once a month. While Taylor-Hollis couldn't find answers about the budget, in fact, district budgets are reviewed and available at board meetings. The board of education meets twice a month, on the first and third Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. Board agendas are available at school sites and the Willow Glen library. Deborah, where have you been?

You speak of "surplus property," but in fact the SJUSD's property assets have been carefully managed so that the needs of communities can be met in the future. Of those schools that were closed, many have be re-opened as population shifts; the rest are being leased. Maps are available.

All board members are at our trustee school sites on a regular basis and attend evening meetings frequently in our communities. Weekends we can be found supporting walkathons and other school fundraising activities. Deborah, why have I never seen you at any of our schools? Do you have children in public school?

The Willow Glen Resident has for many years been a great asset to our community, accurately reporting school news and keeping our residents informed about issues and programs in a responsible manner. I am bewildered by the publication of this column, which is so vicious in its tone and so completely without factual basis.

Carol Myers
SJUSD board member

Did letter represent views of students or teachers' unions?

Mary Bergen's opinion piece in the Aug. 26 issue of The Resident was most helpful in evaluating the state of our schools. As president of the California Federation of Teachers and vice president of the American Federation of Teachers, she certainly qualifies as an authority on education practices.

She says the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) program scores "represent only a fuzzy snapshot of education that should not be mistaken for the big picture." Yet she fails to tell us why this is so or why any test would not reflect a snapshot of student ability at that moment, or what she would propose that would not be a snapshot.

She says "the more important test will determine how kids perform to established standards." What standards? How avoid the snapshot test? Are the test scores relevant or not?

Perhaps she should go back to teaching arithmetic, spelling, grammar and reading. Geography and history would be helpful, too. Periodic testing would evaluate student progress or lack thereof. Ms. Bergen doesn't explain any substitute for plain old teaching and testing.

One must wonder whose interests Ms. Bergen represents: our students' or her union members'.

Kent Josephson
Los Gatos

Speeding traffic on Curtner must be kept in check

Last week, I heard a very familiar sound--the squealing of tires as brakes are suddenly applied. This time, however, the squeal ended with a loud thump. A car went through a red light at Curtner and Cottle. It resulted in an injury.

My neighbor, who has lived on Curtner for 12 years, told me he has witnessed dozens of crashes, including one that wiped out several cars parked along Curtner.

It's a long stretch on Curtner from Lincoln to Cottle with no stop signs or warning signs. Curtner is a four-lane road, and drivers tend to step on the gas, only to quickly apply the brakes when they realize there is a stoplight at Cottle. I was very shaken one day when one such driver almost ran into a group of about five or six students from Willow Glen Middle School who had stepped into the crosswalk. I complained to the city. They said they would look into it, but since the school was not on Curtner, no warning signs or reduced-speed signs could be installed on Curtner.

Now that school is open again, I pray each time I hear the tires squeal that young lives aren't going to pay the price for the city's rules.

Maria Dupras
Curtner Avenue

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