In the Sept. 21 Willow Glen Resident article on the race for the San Jose Unified School District board, Carol Myers, the incumbent, implies that to be an effective school board member one must have had teaching experience.

Historically, there have been many effective members of school boards who had no teaching experience. Pam Foley has a tremendous breadth of business experience along with strong, hands-on involvement in the public schools. She has done her homework as a San Jose Unified parent and knows what it takes to make a school successful.

The district faces hard budget decisions in the near future. Pam's knowledge of business and finance, along with her outstanding leadership and interpersonal skills, will allow her to work effectively with school board members and district administrators. This will be a change from the present incumbent, who has frequently been in an adversarial position with other board members. It is important to note that former San Jose Unified School District Superintendent Linda Murray and current members of the board support Pam Foley.

Mrs. Myers also objects to Willow Glen students attending other district schools. These schools, like Hacienda Science Magnet, Castillero Middle and Lincoln High Performing Arts Magnet, have outstanding programs that attract students from all over the district, not just Willow Glen. It is a credit to those schools and the district that such strong programs have evolved.

Pam Foley has stated that she will work toward ensuring that each school in the district has programs of equal excellence. Parents should have the choice to allow their students to attend schools outside their neighborhood. All schools always have room for improvement, but it is an insult to teachers in Willow Glen schools to imply that the only way to improve is to bring back those students who choose to go elsewhere. You don't strengthen Willow Glen schools, or any others in the district, by diluting the effectiveness of schools like Hacienda, Castillero and Lincoln. Parents are looking for excellent academic programs in all schools.

Willow Glen schools have strong programs, strong faculties, strong parental involvement and they continue to produce successful students, just as they did years ago when my children attended Booksin and Lincoln Glen. They are, however, different from the neighborhood schools of 30 years ago and they can never return to that model.

Schools need to be reflective of and responsive to the society that exists today, which is multicultural. That means all schools must provide for students who have limited English-speaking ability and have special needs. Pam Foley will be very effective in dealing with all of these issues. She is able to see the broader, districtwide picture while also focusing on the needs of Willow Glen students.

Elaine Gould

Retired San Jose Unified teacher

The race is in District
Area 3, not in Area 2

As the San Jose Unified School Board election heats up, I read with interest the letters in the Willow Glen Resident Sept. 29 issue. My children have gone through Willow Glen Middle and High schools where my youngest is currently a freshman. The writer supporting Pam Foley signed his name with the credentials of a retired SJUSD teacher, as well as a former president of Willow Glen High School. In my 10-plus years at our neighborhood schools, I had never heard of this person who supposedly "supports" our neighborhood schools, which I found quite odd.

I came to learn that he is a retired teacher from Lincoln High School and that he is active in Lincoln's Foundation. I have no doubt that he had a Willow Glen High school child and served as Willow Glen High School PTA president, however, that was certainly many years ago, far before the current realities of our district's issues.

As a voter, I resent when people advocate for candidates without revealing their true motives or backgrounds. I also think it is unethical for sitting board members to endorse candidates.

While I greatly admire Susan Hammer, her own children went to Lincoln and her husband is active on its foundation. Last time I checked, Lincoln wasn't part of Trustee Area 3; that neighborhood already has representation on the school board, they don't need a second seat. Those of us who truly advocate and support our neighborhood schools do that by sending our children to those schools and actively participate in supporting them.

Carol Myers is passionate about making sure that our neighborhood schools get their fair share of the shrinking dollars available in education today. She also speaks out and says the things that others on the board wish she wouldn't say. That the desegregation lawsuit was supposed to be about helping those kids in our district who are underachieving. That magnet programs have created some terrific educational opportunities for the kids that attend those schools, but they have often been to the detriment of the non-magnet campuses; and all too often, to the benefit of kids from outside the district.

The biggest crime is that the magnet programs aren't truly servicing those kids that the lawsuit was meant to help.

When Carol makes these unpopular points, her fellow school board members don't want to hear it. She makes their job harder by not giving up on advocating for our own neighborhood issues. Choice is acceptable, but it can't be at the cost of the other schools in the district, which is too often the case.

I am supporting Carol Myers because I know that she will truly continue to fight for the needs of our neighborhood schools.

Teri Ravel Kane

Thrasher Lane

Sleepless on Dry Creek
and looking for answers

About a month ago the Willow Glen Resident published an article based on my traffic concerns. I want to thank staff writer reporter Meghan O'Hare for her coverage of this issue.

In that article San Jose Department of Transportation Division Manager Laura Wells noted that the DOT conducted evaluations at the intersection by observing the traffic and gathering "extensive data." She also added, "Stop signs tend not to be respected if they are not warranted."

What Ms. Wells and other people on city payroll don't get is that the real culprit is vehicular speed, which causes the noise and vibrations in my home along with making the intersection unsafe. So, even if the stop signs are not fully respected, they will still slow down traffic sufficiently enough to cut the noise and vibrations in my home and make the intersection safer.

Grinding the edges of the crosswalk, as Ms. Wells suggests, will not slow down the traffic; "grinding" may encourage speeding.

I have been told that it cost the city and DOT a significant amount of funding—thousands of dollars in taxpayer money—for only two of these "traffic-calming" crosswalks, one here at Dry Creek and Hicks Avenue and another at Hicks Avenue between Hamilton, Pine and Minnesota avenues.

It amazes me to observe how elected and appointed city officials and personnel treat a citizen's tax money with so little respect. It appears there is a general attitude of "who cares, there is more money where that came from." No one brings any sanity to the situation or is watching the taxpayer's store.

These are the same people that will spend thousands of taxpayer dollars on "evaluations," "data gathering," and "observing" to avoid admitting a mistake, when the real solution is to install two stop signs and paint "stop" on the street pavement. That would correct this mistake and the obvious blunder of traffic calming on Hicks Avenue at Dry Creek Road.

I would pay for and install the signs myself if knew I wouldn't be arrested. If any readers have solutions, I would love to hear from them through the Resident.

Sleepless at Dry Creek and Hicks for over a year now,

Vince Cosentino

Dry Creek Road

Residents need to look at all pertinent issues

I would like to address San Jose Unified School District School Board incumbent Carol Myers' concerns about the declining population of neighborhood children. Are the parents of these children seeking better education elsewhere? Or are these young families unable to live in San Jose because of exorbitant house prices coupled with large property tax bills including school parcel and bond taxes? 0r is it both?

Furthermore, I believe a large portion of parents have a huge distrust of the school district because of fiduciary issues. Perhaps we need a candidate that will address these concerns. The engine isn't running on all cylinders at the moment.

Jeff Yates

Gerhardt Avenue

Pam Foley will build a coalition as a trustee

As a Willow Glen parent of two children who attend San Jose Unified School District schools, I am thrilled that Pam Foley has stepped forward to run for the school board Trustee Area 3 seat.

I was educated in the California public school system prior to receiving my master's degree, and as such, I am committed to the unique opportunity to achieve academic proficiency within a diverse student body that California's public schools offer.

In the Sept. 29 issue of the Willow Glen Resident John Mansperger, president of Schallenberger Home and School Association, stated his belief that Ms. Foley is running for trustee chiefly because she is interested in supporting the Hacienda Elementary School science program over Willow Glen Elementary School programs. I, on the other hand, believe that Pam's commitment is to the larger Willow Glen Area schools. Education funding is complicated, and while there may well be current financial inequities, I believe Pam is a fiscally adept candidate who is committed to fairly addressing those issues. Most importantly, Pam offers this area a chance to be represented by a positive trustee who will work effectively with other board members, learn from successful district school staff and families, and strengthen both neighborhood and choice school fundraising efforts and programs.

Those of us who are committed to public education in a city as richly diverse in culture and life experience as San Jose deserve intelligent and professional representatives who know how to reach a consensus on critical issues while treating every district employee, board member and resident with respect. I do not believe that the incumbent's repeated attempts over 14 years to blame both the school district and families for the problems facing our local schools have served Willow Glen well. It is my personal experience that working together to build coalitions and make sound decisions is the most effective approach to achieving excellence in education. Pam Foley offers Willow Glen an opportunity to do just that, and I intend to seize that opportunity by voting for her in November.

Sally Notthoff Zarnowitz

Parent, Booksin Elementary School and
Lincoln High School