PUBLIC FORUM LAUSD PRIORITIES.I find it unbelievable that school Superintendent Roy Romer not only planned to give extra raises on top of the one-year, 14.5 percent pay package given to many principals and assistant principals but that it was approved by the Los Angeles Unified School District The Los Angeles Unified School District (the "LAUSD") is the largest (in terms of number of students) public school system in California and the second-largest in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population. board. It seems that those large sums of money are more important for administrators. I guess the schools can live with peeling paint, old books, little or no after- school programs, little or no resources for kids with reading problems, etc. On the other hand, almost every election there is a bond measure on the ballot for this or that. I say vote no, and as for the school superintendent, the LAUSD LAUSD Los Angeles Unified School District (Los Angeles, CA) should get rid of Roy Romer and hire someone who will consider the children first and the administrators last. - Barbara Evans Canoga Park Thinking ahead Those sly dogs at the LAUSD. How clever of Roy Romer and the rest of the LAUSD boondoggle boon·dog·gle Informal n. 1. An unnecessary or wasteful project or activity. 2. a. A braided leather cord worn as a decoration especially by Boy Scouts. b. gang to announce they were considering a move to a new building, possibly near the Belmont Center - when he secretly wants to move into the Belmont Center. The public would have balked balk v. balked, balk·ing, balks v.intr. 1. To stop short and refuse to go on: The horse balked at the jump. 2. at $200 million or $300 million for an office building, but a school is eligible for Proposition BB repair funds. This would put the unfinished building to good use and the foul-smelling explosive fumes fumes odorous gases and other volatile materials; inhalation of irritating fumes causes coughing and, if sufficiently severe, irreversible pulmonary edema. would ensure that school administrators rotate assignment and provide an incentive to find employment elsewhere. And the Daily News thought the LAUSD didn't have the public interest at heart. - James J. Menotti Sunland Cost plus On several occasions, the Daily News has mentioned how fair it was of Los Angeles to sell electric power for cost plus 15 percent. Please note that Edison and Pacific Gas and Electric would be most happy to do the same - cost plus 15 percent. - Robert Martin Pasadena Double standard Re ``View From the Valley'' cartoon, April 20: Why is it acceptable for the Daily News and Patrick O'Connor to portray the electorate of Mississippi as poor white hillbillies? The stereotypical ridicule of this group's idea of heritage and the casual dismissal of the validity of their ideas was racist, objectionable and hypocritical in light of the great lengths we go to in order to promote and protect other groups' heritage. It would clearly not be socially acceptable to print a cartoon similarly portraying a racial minority. This cultural double standard is fortified by well-intentioned members of the media who inadvertently foster racism and separatism in the name of equality. The day this stops may be the day that we start seeing each other as people, not as racial groups. - Curt Meyer Santa Clarita Sound familiar? Just in case there are people out there who don't remember the 1970s, this is a reminder. During those years, Southern California Gas This article or section needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Alone, primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of this article are not sufficient for an accurate encyclopedia article. Co. launched a campaign on television touting a ``gas shortage'' and telling everyone to use less and they'd save money. We must have done a pretty good job of it - a few months later, the gas company petitioned the state Public Utilities Commission for a rate hike because they ``weren't making enough money.'' Sound familiar? - Lois E. Slain Canoga Park He worked for it Re Alan Simon's comments in the April 24 Public Forum: Taxpayers are now paying 40 cents on every dollar that they earn. Jeffrey Rendall's father (``Why can't they just leave us alone,'' Opinion, April 18) did not receive anything that he didn't work for and I'm sure he did not build all of these bridges and sewers by himself. If Rendall's father was smart enough to invest some of his earnings, why should he be viewed as less of a taxpayer than anyone else? What has Sen. Daschle or Rep. Gephardt given us, the taxpayer, in return for their high salaries and perks? Engineering courses are available. - Edwina L. Hughes La Crescenta Herd mentality Well, I see that NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. has become one of the lemmings, since they have now chosen to take on another British piece of programming called ``The Weakest Link,'' featuring someone named Anne Robinson who apparently is a cult favorite on the other side of the pond, and is the epitome of nastiness. Apparently NBC is so lacking in imagination that they can't originate anything at all by themselves anymore. We will now have someone who is rude and offensive that they figure that our American couch potatoes will just eat it up, and considering the caliber of many of those same viewers, in all probability they will. All you have to do is think ``Big Brother,'' ``Survivor'' (all variations), ``Millionaire'' and the rest of it. - Graydon Wayne Santa Clarita Reparations reparations, payments or other compensation offered as an indemnity for loss or damage. Although the term is used to cover payments made to Holocaust survivors and to Japanese Americans interned during World War II in so-called relocation camps (and used as well to If reparations are paid to descendents of slavery, this will create a spectacular legal precedent that may have unsettling un·set·tle v. un·set·tled, un·set·tling, un·set·tles v.tr. 1. To displace from a settled condition; disrupt. 2. To make uneasy; disturb. v.intr. consequences. If slaves' descendents can be compensated for past unpaid work, then how could a legal suit be stopped by the descendents of plantation owners to recover lost ``property'' when the slaves were emancipated e·man·ci·pate tr.v. e·man·ci·pat·ed, e·man·ci·pat·ing, e·man·ci·pates 1. To free from bondage, oppression, or restraint; liberate. 2. ? Certainly this ``loss'' could be calculated at trillions of dollars. The descendents of the mansion and the field house should reflect on making better decisions here and now. We should all find compensation in what we do today to help others, not by cherishing and invoking the pain and misery of the past. - Jerry Perttula Northridge All for power In one of the most blatant reversals of moral philosophy ever displayed by a political hack, Christine Whitman has become a sycophantic syc·o·phant n. A servile self-seeker who attempts to win favor by flattering influential people. [Latin s apologist Apologist Any of the Christian writers, primarily in the 2nd century, who attempted to provide a defense of Christianity against Greco-Roman culture. Many of their writings were addressed to Roman emperors and were submitted to government secretaries in order to defend for Dubya's concerted attack on the environment. In abandoning with unprecedented alacrity a·lac·ri·ty n. 1. Cheerful willingness; eagerness. 2. Speed or quickness; celerity. [Latin alacrit her heretofore declared dicta Opinions of a judge that do not embody the resolution or determination of the specific case before the court. Expressions in a court's opinion that go beyond the facts before the court and therefore are individual views of the author of the opinion and not binding in subsequent cases , she has shown herself to be a bootlicking boot·lick v. boot·licked, boot·lick·ing, boot·licks v.tr. To behave toward in a servile or obsequious manner. v.intr. To behave in a servile or obsequious manner. lackey for the sake of power over principle. - Zachary A. Charles Burbank Saving the deadwood Deadwood, city (1990 pop. 1,830), seat of Lawrence co., W S.Dak.; settled 1876 after discovery of gold. A Black Hills tourist center, it is also a trade hub for a lumbering, stock-raising, and mining region. As expected, Rep. Brad Sherman is using scare tactics to promote his new bill to ``save the environment.'' Sherman's bill would divert millions more of our hard-earned tax dollars to bloated bureaucracies comprised mostly of inept managers and scientists who admit they fear getting a job on the outside in commercial businesses away from their cushy cush·y adj. cush·i·er, cush·i·est Informal Making few demands; comfortable: a cushy job. [Origin unknown. positions with incredible perks where they would actually have to work for a living. If all the dead wood in our state and federal bureaucracies were fired, you would never know the difference and we would be better off. It would be far more efficient to contract out all Earth Day activities to private businesses, managed by the remaining crew of top-rate government agents. Congress would have lots of money to do the job without any more taxes. - Lou Gates Westlake Village Balancing the scales I would like to thank the Daily News for being the only newspaper in Los Angeles to send a reporter along with the El Camino High School "El Camino High School" may refer to:
It is this type of reporting that gives a better balance of life that is ongoing with today's youths. Granted, there are many sad stories of gangs, drugs, alcoholism, etc. associated with stories involving youths, but your stories of the teams from El Camino and the youth sports activities does balance the scales. - John Adams Camarillo |
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