The Willow Glen Resident recently changed distribution companies, and as usually happens during such a transition, there have been some problems. I assure you that we are printing and delivering the same number of papers and we expect that the bumps will be smoothed out soon. It usually takes a month or so for distribution patterns to settle down.

We want you to get your paper, and there is a way you can help us correct the problems we've been experiencing. In any given week, if you do not receive your paper or the paper is not placed on your porch, we would greatly appreciate it if you would email our circulation manager and let him know the address where the problem is occurring. This will greatly aid us in working with the distribution company to pinpoint where the problems are.

Please send email to sduguay@svcn.com. Please include the address, a brief description of the problem and your phone number.

Please be our eyes and ears in facilitating delivery of your weekly community newspaper. Thank you, and thank you for reading the Willow Glen Resident.

—David Cohen, Publisher

Measure A parcel tax had limited campaign

If I were trying to design a one-sided election geared toward bringing out only voters involved in promoting an issue to reach the statutory two-thirds majority and wanted to avoid a discussion among the public, then I would have a special election just two months after another single-issue special election. I would also keep the election as quiet as legally possible. But wait—someone thought of that already.

This June 3 special tax assessment election, which would hit every homeowner in the city of San Jose with a $98 per parcel fee each year, with a maximum 2 percent inflation adjustment per year for the next five years has received virtually no publicity, thereby assuring that the proponents can skew the results by getting out a one-sided vote.

Since moving to Willow Glen in 1987, I have voted for virtually every school funding measure. This one will be an exception. Had Measure A been set for a regularly scheduled election so that it could be fairly debated, I would consider its merits. However, I will vote no and call on others in San Jose to vote no against sleazy tactics.

—Steven Goldstone, Willow Glen


Measure A is not the answer for schools

Measure A will not solve what is wrong with our public schools. In my opinion, we are simply throwing good money after bad.

The San Jose Unified School District can more easily come up with $6 million by cutting programs that are not working. Willow Glen High School, whose performance is questionable at best, spends more than a million dollars to teach 350 students Spanish. In fact, all the San Jose Unified School District schools, K-12, have such programs, ever after the passage of Proposition 229.

The school district spends millions of taxpayer dollars busing students away from their neighborhood schools and millions of dollars on attorneys to perpetuate this losing situation.

According to a recent analysis done by the school district, there are three major factors that affect student success. Forty-nine percent is having certified teachers, 49 percent is having family and parental involvement, and two percent is classroom size. This coincides with a recent survey done by Public Agenda, a New York­based nonprofit that does opinion surveys. Eighty-three percent of the teachers surveyed said parents who fail to set limits and create structure at home are a serious problem, and 81 percent think parents who refuse to hold their kids accountable for behavior or academic performance are a serious problem.

Instead of more pay, 86 percent of teachers said they'd rather have a school where student behavior and parental support was better.

And of the parents that were surveyed, 61 percent of African American parents think inner-city kids should be expected to perform according to the same standards as wealthier kids.

So what are the priorities? Nearly all parents, 92 percent, think you should have to pass a standardized test to be promoted, and if you fail you should have to go to summer school or repeat the grade.

The conclusion is simple and does not cost the taxpayer anything. The key to success in the classroom is involved parents and family. Stop spending millions on busing kids away from their neighborhood schools, and start abiding by the voters' wishes by adhering to Proposition 229.

—Teresa Hanson, Cherry Avenue


Appalled by posters hanging in windows

In the evening, as my husband and I took advantage of the beautiful weather and strolled down Lincoln Avenue with our two young children, I was appalled to see advertisements for The Vagina Monologues in the windows of the shops at precisely eye level for my children.

One of my children can read well. Fortunately, he didn't seem to notice the huge black letters spelling out VAGINA right in front of him in many store windows.

We teach our children that their private parts are just that: private. Hanging large signs like that on Lincoln Avenue, where dozens or even hundreds of children walk every day, is grossly inappropriate.

I am not writing in opposition to the play, which I have never seen. I am simply asking the business owners on Lincoln Avenue (or anyplace where children are present) to take down the offending posters. Please.

Having them there makes me feel very uncomfortable taking my children to one of our favorite places. Downtown Willow Glen is one of the most delightfully child-friendly places in San Jose. Let's keep it that way.

—Christina Shirey, Milton Way

Correction

The May 21 issue of the Willow Glen Resident should have listed the Hijinx Comics website address as www.hijinxcomics.com.