PUBLIC FORUM.

High standards

Re "Schools falling behind federal goals" (Feb. 28):

No Child Left Behind requires that every child read and do math at grade level by 2013-14. I think if you asked parents (and I am a parent) about that timeline, they'd say they expect schools to ensure their child is performing at grade level today, not six years from now.

Still, some in California's "education community" say that 2014 is too short a timeline. That's an excuse and our students are on the losing end.

California Business for Education Excellence, along with partner Just for the Kids-California, has identified more than 300 schools on track to meet the 2013-14 goal. These are not just schools in affluent areas, but also schools with high concentrations of low-income, ethnic minority and English-learner students.

These schools dispel the myth that some students or schools cannot meet NCLB goals. Clearly, children can and are capable of meeting rigorous academic standards, but only when adults set high expectations and focus on grade-level proficiency.

-- Kirk M. Clark

Vice president

California Business Roundtable

Sacramento

Backing Rodriguez

Re "Rodriguez for City Council" (Feb. 26):

News chose to endorse Monica Rodriguez.

Voters should be keenly aware that the local entrenched politicians agreed to a backroom deal whereby Cindy Montanez and Felipe Fuentes would opt out of the race to make room for Richard Alarcon, who had just been elected to the state Assembly. It would seem that both Montanez and Fuentes were promised a portion of the political trough for opting out of the race.

Voters in the 7th District need to send a strong message that they will not tolerate these conniving backroom deals.

I am voting for Monica Rodriguez because she is dedicated and highly qualified to improve living conditions in the 7th District.

Sam Chaidez

Mission Hills

Gore's carbon credits

Al Gore is a hypocrite, making his good works for the planet suspect. He tries to deflect his 20-times-the-national-average electricity usage by saying he has a big house and he buys carbon credits.

Let's see, the first thing that comes to mind is he could live in a normal-size house like the rest of us. Secondly, I wonder how many carbon credits the average American living from paycheck to paycheck can afford?

Gore is a hypocrite who is harming the planet while becoming the darling of eco extremists.

Unless he changes his lifestyle, drives an electric car, and makes some meaningful sacrifice in his life for the good of the planet, he is just another liberal hypocrite.

Craig S. Hawley

Reseda

Say what?

Re "Mayor seeks U.S. support for 'subway to sea' vision" (Feb. 28):

I just couldn't let this comment go from Transportation Secretary Mary Peters: "The mayor and his team understands what needs to be done to use cutting-edge technology ... to get more out of existing roads." What exactly is she saying? I couldn't quite tell. Clearly neither could Mary Peters when it came to providing a viable solution to helping to end our traffic nightmares in this lifetime!

Ellen Vukovich

Sherman Oaks