Letters

safety issues

Editor,

What a tragic irony. Tuesday night, I attended the meeting of the San Carlos Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee ("B/PAC”), of which I am a member. We discussed the issue of pedestrian safety in San Carlos, and whether the perception of danger on the streets was a real problem, since there have been "few” pedestrian fatalities (or even injuries) in the past several years.

I had no idea, until I read Wednesday morning’s Daily Journal, that another pedestrian died on a San Carlos street earlier that very day.

I am reminded of a phrase from the song, "Blowin’ In The Wind” — "How many deaths will it take ‘til we know that too many people have died?”

If you think I’m being overly dramatic, I doubt the family of Edith Shoch (the victim) thinks so. Please attend the next meeting of the San Carlos B/PAC on Tuesday, April 4, and help us identify pedestrian safety problems and the solutions. (Check the city’s Web site for exact time, location and agenda.) Maybe too many people have already died.

Margaret Pye

San Carlos

Teachers deserve

a good wage

Editor,

I must take issue with the views expressed by James Geranlos’ guest perspective on the "good wages” of teachers ("Teachers make a good wage” in the March 20 edition of the Daily Journal). Mr. Geranlos offers several misconceptions of teachers and their work. He seems unaware that teachers work far more hours than the 8 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. time period. There are preparation activities through follow-up activities for each student. According to a study by NCTE [National Council for Teachers of English], one student essay requires at least 20 minutes for reading, analysis, and response. For one middle school English teacher, that translates into 54 hours for 162 papers, a common load for six classes of 27 students. Several studies, [Malcomson and Naylor, 2001] place the teacher workweek at 53 or more hours per week. At 186 workdays per year, 53 hour work weeks for 39 weeks translates into 49 weeks per year of 42 hour weeks. That’s over the 40 hour week most people work.

A young woman I know graduated from college with a degree in nursing five years ago. Her salary as a nurse is well over $100,000 a year for a 36 hour week. Does she deserve it? You bet. A young man I know, who has completed some college coursework, earns $60,000 in his first real job as a landscape project manager. There’s a good wage, too. It takes salaries like these to live here, and to work in the Bay Area. Fifty percent of those entering the teaching profession leave within five years. Apparently, the "good wage” isn’t good enough.

Well-educated, experienced teachers have been shown to be the most important factor in the success of a student’s educational experience. If teachers’ salaries reflect the values held by our community, our society, and our culture, then we are all at risk; the message to our youth is that they are not important enough to warrant teachers who earn more than a "good” wage.

Buffy Francisco

San Francisco

The letter writer is a teacher in the San Mateo-Foster City School District.

Nomination would jeopardize natural resources

Editor,

The U.S. Senate will soon consider the nomination of Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne as the secretary of the interior. The Department of the Interior is responsible for overseeing our National Park system, wildlife refuges, monuments, and recreation areas, and is tasked with protecting the nation’s natural and cultural heritage.

However, the confirmation of Kempthorne as interior secretary would seriously jeopardize our natural resources and environment, and would be an especially grave threat to our coast through the expansion of offshore oil drilling.

The Bush administration and the Republican controlled Congress has been pushing federal legislation to end the long-standing moratorium on new offshore oil leasing, seriously threatening our coastal resources. Governor Kempthorne supports this effort and as Interior Secretary would have the authority to enact damaging environmental policies.

Offshore oil leasing and production would degrade the quality of our air and water, adversely impact threatened and endangered species, and damage our coastal economies, including commercial fishing and tourism, which annually contributes over $50 billion to the state’s economy. As a statement of California’s disapproval to Congressional efforts to allow offshore oil drilling, I authored legislation to officially declare our opposition to any weakening of the moratorium or the consideration of damaging coastal policies.

Kempthorne, a former U.S. senator, is almost certain to be approved when the Energy and Natural Resources Committee takes up his nomination later this month or early April. However, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., is fortunately attempting to hold up the nomination and ensure a "vigorous debate on [his] environmental record.”

I urge Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein to join Sen. Nelson in blocking this nomination. Nothing short of our coastline and environmental resources are at stake. Once again, it is imperative that we vocally oppose this latest irresponsible and unwarranted attack on our environment.

Leland Y. Yee, Ph.D.

San Francisco

The letter writer is the speaker pro tempore of the California Assembly.

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