On Seating Roland Burris; Fruitvale BART Murder; Trouble With Newsom; Obama's Education Secretary ...Jan. 09‚ 2009Hey Paul Hogarth, here's a novel idea: let the U.S. Senate FOLLOW ITS RULES. Seat Senators who are properly certified by their respective states. Neither Roland Burris nor Al Franken have proper certification (yet - as far as I know the Illinois SoS hasn't signed off on Burris). When they have proper certification, seat them! Isn't that simple? Ralph Kramden Re: Harrison Chastang's piece on the Fruitvale BART murder ... We live in a glorious age where information can be transmitted at our very fingertips in seconds. I love modern technology. It can be on your side or against you, just depends on your true intentions. This cop should be prosecuted, but in reality, he will probably walk and there will be complete chaos in the streetz of Oakland, wouldn't want to be there after the verdict is read, God be with us... Jose To the Editor: Gavin Newsom is in the vein of Democrats such as Dianne Feinstein and Lieberman. He took the cause of Gay Marriage for it is the easiest one. San Francisco has a strong gay constituency. Besides, the times are ripe for the idea of gay marriage. It is disingenuous to usurp Gay Marriage cause while alienating Unions, progressive supervisors, environmentalists, and renters. The lesson of Carol Migden alienating san franciscans is still fresh. Nafiss Griffis San Francisco To the Editor: I would not expect much from Arne (as Obama's Education Secretary.) Since Arne Duncan didn't know how to lead, inspire and build a strong professional community within neighborhood schools in a systematic way, he along with Mayor Daley and the Chicago Commerce Club came up with the great con, by letting cronies open charter schools. These schools would then cherry pick students and either not accept students with special needs or would squeeze them out. These schools would not be held accountable to the same standard as the neighborhood schools. The Chicago Sun-Times is finally investigating the corruption in the Charter Schools. The teachers are usually inexperienced and not certified teachers. Even the charter school administrators are now anxious since a good portion of their start up money was given by foundations and businesses. With the downturn in the economy, they are worried. Look folks, Arne didn't know how to work the professionals he had available in the classrooms. He could have have implemented a longer instructional day for the students. By the tenth grade, a CPS student has about one academic year less of instruction time then a comparable student in the New York City schools. With a longer school day, teachers would finally be able to meet regularly in same grade and cross team cycles to analyze student work, target areas that need improvement and evaluate the progress in a proven manner to build high performance schools. Truth be told, Arne cut corners and had his marketing team put lipstick on the pig that was his "enlightened" reform policy. I too wished Obama picked Professor Linda Darling-Hammond. Vincent Rush You can submit letters to the editor by clicking on this link: feedback@beyondchron.org or by writing to: Beyond Chron 126 Hyde Street San Francisco, CA 94102 415-771-9850 (phone) |