PUBLIC FORUM : PUBLIC SHOULDN'T SUBSIDIZE NFL STADIUM.

Re ``L.A. teams make plays for NFL slot,'' Daily News, Oct. 28: I want to go on record as being totally opposed to Edward Roski Jr.'s plan, namely because the taxpayers would contribute $40 million.

Why on earth will you and I be asked to subsidize Roski, his partners, some unknown football team and the wealthy folks sitting in the highest-priced luxury suites in the NFL? I think that is unconscionable.

I simply do not understand why the taxpayers should be asked to ante up even one thin dime to help rich folks get richer in perhaps the most sought-after market in the country.

Am I missing something?

- Peter Kirby 

Granada Hills

CSUN football

As longtime neighbors of California State University, Northridge, we would like to comment on the proposed building of a stadium.

There's a lot more at stake here than just a bunch of unhappy homeowners. While we have nothing against football as a sport, we feel that it is a mistake for CSUN to build a massive multipurpose stadium.

It's well-known that this is a commuter campus and, historically, the students lack interest in CSUN sports. A large percentage of students have low or moderate incomes and are struggling just to pay their tuition and remain in school, and they certainly would resent being forced to pay for an oversized stadium.

The maximum number of spectators attending games is 5,000, and a 15,000-seat stadium is proposed at a cost of about $15 million.

With rare exception, big-time football is a net financial drain on campus resources. The money spent to subsidize big-time football is desperately needed for a variety of academic programs and services that would enrich the community and strengthen the bond between the community and the university.

A look at other Cal State campuses, as at Fullerton and Long Beach, should remind anyone who is paying attention that large football stadiums were built and are now rarely used, and many have given up on big-time football.

Pierce College is willing and even eager to share its stadium with CSUN. While it is not up to required standards, a fraction of the money required for a new stadium could be used to renovate it and save dollars for academia.

The time is past when millions of dollars can be squandered to satisfy the whims of a very few. The CSUN president and coach no doubt will have moved to other venues in not too many years, and the university may well be left with the result of unwise decisions made largely because of their influence.

Critical decisions must soon be made regarding what is really important. We believe that the higher road should be taken. Universities should emphasize what they were created for: namely, higher education.

- Hans and Paula Phillips

Northridge

`Insult' to taxpayers

The letter from school teacher Thomas Leland, Public Forum, Oct. 27, is the final twisting of the truth and insult to overburdened property taxpayers, along with all overburdened taxpayers.

Leland bemoans the fact he spent three hours Sunday making out grades for his students and an hour before that calling parents with nonmotivated and disruptive children.

Well, many of us work full time, 51 weeks out of the year, for a one-week vacation. Most parents have to work with their children two to three hours a night because the teachers failed to teach the lessons of the day clearly and adequately.

Most of us are held responsible for our work and can be fired, and we are not given lifetime jobs that pay well without being held accountable, as are teachers.

Most of us have to work and produce and are not covered and protected by any board like the school board, elected by the teachers and dedicated to higher and higher salaries.

- Donald L. Mellman

Studio City

Kudos to Leland for so eloquently defending his profession.

I honestly don't think any of the writers or staff of the Daily News could last one hour in a middle school in Los Angeles.

I challenge anyone to come into my middle school, Maclay Middle School in Pacoima, and teach a lesson. That person would have to stick to the curriculum guidelines as outlined by the Los Angeles Unified School District and prepare a lesson plan.

In a society where the education profession is so poorly compensated, what does one expect? Travel to any other industrialized country around the globe. Teachers are held in high esteem and receive pay comparable to other professions. It is no wonder that their public school systems consistently outperform ours.

The LAUSD is not preparing its students to compete in a competitive global marketplace, but that is because families within the LAUSD are not preparing their students to go to school to perform.

- Sean Boulton

Glendale

Raises vs. books

Re ``Book deficit hits lower grade levels,'' Daily News, Oct. 27:

Superintendent Ruben Zacarias wants the school board to appropriate an additional $3.2 million for textbooks, and continue the mismanagement of the LAUSD.

The state just gave the LAUSD $60 million intended for the students, textbooks and necessary school programs.

It was never intended for pay raises for the teachers, who already have a set, agreed-upon contract.

Obviously, the school board members lack backbone to act independently of what the teachers union tells them to do. We might as well save the taxpayers a lot of money by abolishing the school board and just letting the teachers union decide everything.

This is another reason for breaking up the LAUSD.

- Gary M. Schechter

Woodland Hills

Re the headline ``Windfall gone awry? LAUSD may use book aid for raises'' in the Daily News, Oct. 12: I found that an unfortunate choice of words and unfair editorializing.

Writing that the average teacher earns $44,000 a year ``for about nine months of work'' is a gross miscalculation. The school year is in fact 10 months, and I challenge you to find a teacher who does not work evenings, weekends, summers and holidays on lesson plans, grades, parent conferences, after-school tutoring, educational conferences and more.

The average teacher receives a salary well below that of other professionals with comparable education and experience. While 50 percent of all new teachers leave the field within the first five years, those who remain face a mandatory ceiling, even with 30 years of experience and advanced degrees.

At a time when most Americans are seeking to recognize educators for their efforts and support initiatives to attract and retain qualified teachers, the Daily News remains out of touch.

- Anita Lemonis

West Hills

I am appalled but not surprised at the revelation by the Daily News on Oct. 24 that the LAUSD lacks basic textbooks in English.

The district's director in charge of textbook services, Jim Konantz, didn't know how many books were needed to fill the classrooms and referred questions to the district's head of language acquisition. And of course, he was not available for comment.

This is just another case of mismanagement in the LAUSD. It can't get English books for the classrooms. It builds schools on toxic-waste sites. Its officials constantly claim to run out of money, but want to add health care for those who don't have insurance.

I would be afraid to let the LAUSD administer health care to my children if it can't even do the simple things, such as get enough books to teach the English language.

- Michael C. Hines

West Hills

Money, money, money. The greedy teachers want another raise in pay because the Los Angeles Unified School District has a surplus of money.

As far as salaries go, the L.A. schoolteachers are near the top in the country. On the yearly national standardized tests given by the government, we are near the bottom again and again. So right now the teachers are getting top money for giving the children a very poor education. The teachers are very much overpaid.

The only way you can tell how much a student learned at the end of the year is by the score he got on the national standardized test. I think the teachers' salaries should be based on those scores, because those scores will tell you how well the students were taught.

Of course, most of the teachers would be dead against this idea because they like getting paid well, whether they teach the student or not.

If we don't start basing the teachers' salaries on the students' test results, we will never improve our schools. The teachers won't have the incentive to make the students learn.

- Stan Niedwicki

Woodland Hills

Change needed before subways

In Opinions, Oct. 30, the anti-Proposition A writer, Richard Nemec, has the better argument. We can't have a world-class city without a highway-independent transit system.

The pro-Proposition A writer, Wayne Avrashow, repeats the same tired old arguments that Los Angeles is too sprawling a city to have such a system, thus proving the non-existence of the Chicago area, greater New York and greater London. Nonetheless, I urge a yes vote for Proposition A.

Nemec suggests that we throw the Metropolitan Transit Authority ``bums'' and continue with the subway. But how? So far, nothing has been effective.

The same people who squandered money hand over fist are still there. The same people who built a palace headquarters fit for an emperor are still there. The same people who carefully tunneled under the slums of Hollywood and Alvarado Street are still there.

Proposition A does not throw out the baby with the bath water because there is no baby. I believe the lesson is that we can't have the transit system we need until we have a government structure responsive to the needs of the city, rather than special-interest developers.

To achieve that and save this city, we need to break Los Angeles up into manageable pieces. Secession, now.

- Bob Schultz

Lakeview Terrace

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Photo: Model shows how L.A. Memorial Coliseum would look after renovation.