The Willow Glen Resident Speak Out Hard questions for the SJUSD Why isn't the San Jose Unified School District reporting back to the taxpayers the results of the $175 million bond approval for construction? The SJUSD is too big! It represents over 30,000 children and 42 separate schools, and it has a problem of not listening to parents' concerns. I feel strongly that the SJUSD would be better off going to a smaller district. The governor reduced class sizes so that children could learn better; why can't we do the same for the SJUSD? Why isn't the district building the elementary school located near the Tamien Station? Is the district lying to the voters? What is happening to the bond money? Why is it all right to contract Woodrow Wilson Junior High to Center for Employment Training , rather than to be used as a junior high school and/or elementary school site? Why can't the district use the Hoover site for Broadway High students? I believe that our junior high schools are overcrowded, yet the district contracts out a junior high located in the downtown area that would support neighborhood school options. What will happen to River Glen and Broadway schools? Why weren't parents and taxpayers allowed to voice their concern? Is it because most of these students come from poor families or parents with single mothers who find it difficult to organize against the district? Why did the SJUSD eliminate Advanced Level Learning classes at all junior high schools? I support bringing back sixth- and seventh-grade sports and music programs for both boys and girls, rather than wasting money on social engineering. Is the SJUSD afraid of competition? When you compare Cupertino, Saratoga, Los Gatos or Morgan Hill test scores, the SJUSD would come in way last! Are the trustees afraid of competition? Sports, arts and music programs would offer positive activities that test the child's abilities, instill discipline and promote teamwork and family values. What does the district plan to do with four sites that could be used for possible schools immediately? I wish to make my perspective very clear to the voters/taxpayers that have been asked to spend their hard-earned dollars on a $175 million bond. The SJUSD going back to neighborhood schools is a big lie! The district continues to accept court-ordered money ($24 million a year) to take our children out of our neighborhood schools! Now I believe we are up to second grade! The district is dependent on this easy money, kind of like a heroin addict is on heroin. Just follow the money trail! I have noticed that whenever the district has a problem, the trustees hide behind the desegregation court issue and lie to the citizens. Test scores, since busing has been instigated in 1985, have been going down year after year! Now the district wants more money for doing a very poor job! It's been 12 years of very disappointing results; simply give us back our neighborhood schools! Many parents sending their children to private schools can't afford another tax increase to support a system that has taken their neighborhood away from them! I have noticed more and more of my friends send their children to other private schools or plan to send their children in the following year; these are the best and brightest students being disgusted with the SJUSD. I am strongly considering having my only child left in the SJUSD test for Mitty and Valley Christian, where common decency and values are promoted and social promotion is not tolerated. I will continue to try and get the district to promote neighborhood community spirit, increase test scores and promote parent involvement. By supporting the parent's rights, the voters/taxpayers can create a sense of independence from the giant SJUSD and inform them that they are in business of educating our children, rather than trying to build themselves an empire where voters are forced to contribute through excessive taxes. The mansion on Lenzen is starting to look like an excellent school site for the children of Broadway High School. Michael A. Johnson Jonathan Avenue Irrational solutions to moral decay This letter is in response to the letter by Tibor Fuyer in the Willow Glen Resident dated Nov. 18, 1998. If you're suggesting that we have been losing more and more of our freedoms (the Bill of Rights), I would agree. The courts are ruling more often in favor of the prosecution. To this day, Marcia Clark still doesn't quite get it. O.J. was set free because she and the other prosecutors stepped over the line and were called on it--for a change. They mishandled the case, i.e. illegal search, Mark Furman, "testalying," etc. I'm of the belief that the end doesn't justify the means. Your position seems to be--give us more guns. Will more, not less, guns make our neighborhoods safer? You compare the murder rate in U.S. prisons and jails to the general population. This comparison is flawed from the start--you know, apples and oranges. What Clinton did was wrong. Still, it was about sex. Sex scandals date back to the beginning of humanity. Remember David in the Old Testament? He broke most of the Ten Commandments with one sex scandal. It happens that doesn't mean we need to become extremists and start labeling people in order to cast blame. President Clinton isn't the problem. The issues of moral decay are more complex than just guns and abortion. It goes deeper than just passing laws. You stated in your letter: "In the past four decades, the Democrats are the ones who supported more immigration and open borders, so it is them who brought the crime wave into America." Are you suggesting that immigrants are the only ones committing crimes? My heritage is Dutch and Irish. My grandparents came west in a wagon train and settled as farmers in Nebraska. What heritage are you, Mr. Fuyer? Placing labels on people and then calling them anti-American has a bad connotation. Statements such as yours are part of our complex problems. I would agree that abortion when used as birth control contributes to the disrespect for life. But should it be made illegal in all circumstances? What about issues like the health of the mother? These are decisions made between the parents and God. Some feel it's immoral to call parents who have had to make decisions like these "anti-American." Your solutions to public decay is to give the people more guns and make all abortions illegal and unsafe. Will these solutions stop moral decay? I don't think so. We were given minds so we could be rational, not irrational. Tom Sutton A clean sweep at Willow Glen High I went by the Willow Glen High School today, Sunday, and was so pleased to see groups cleaning up the schoolyard. Clipping bushes, sweeping, picking up trash, etc. These volunteers should be commended for giving up their free day to beautify their school. I have watched the grounds looking bad for a long time, so I was pleased to see the volunteers that still care. Barbara Martin [ Back to Contents Page | Willow Glen Resident Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Willow Glen Resident, November 25, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.