Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/705957
I have always thought that teacher tenure is undemocratic. However, I know this teacher protection was originally started because occasionally a one was unjustifiably fired. Wecertainlydon'twanta teacher to be fired without justification and for no good reason. Let me start with a personal story that hap- pened to me when I made a speech be- fore at least 200 teachers at the Holiday Inn in Chico way back in the late 1970s. I had accepted an invi- tation from the Chico Unified School District to address California's school system. First, I beefed up on as many educational issues as I could. Then, I nervously pro- ceeded to the meeting where I knew the tropic might be over my head. After I had arrived I was asked to ad- dress the crowd as soon as possible. During the Q & A portion of my speech and I had an- swered almost a dozen ques- tions, I recognized a lady who had been waiting impatiently in the back of the crowd. "Yes, you have a question for me," I said. Boy did she. She started with something like "Mr. Statham, I have never voted for you. And, I want you to know I will never vote for you. You Republicans are ruining California." That lady went on for such a long time that I could even feel the audience was getting uncomfortable. And frankly, by that time, I became an- gry and decided to give her a piece of my mind. I hoped then that she did not have ten- ure. I just couldn't see her in- timidating unarmed children. My response went some- thing like "I appreciate your very direct thoughts. My re- sponse to you is to make two important points. Please lis- ten carefully to the second point I will make. One, I have come to the conclusion that you think you have almost no faults. More importantly, and here's the point that I hope you will definitely remember, it seems to me that you cer- tainly make the most of the faults you really do have." Getting back on topic, a judge recently handed teacher unions a major de- feat. And, those unions are already fighting back saying that an elimination of ten- ure protection is a violation of their civil rights. Under current law a teacher can get tenure after only two years on the job. This year's latest proposal is Assembly bill 934 by Democrat Sue Bonilla. With Bonilla's change, teachers who have logged three years on the job could then earn tenure, while oth- ers who have been evaluated as ineffective would have to go into a peer-review process. After a fourth year as a pro- bationary teacher, that per- son could either be fired or granted tenure. I believe if I were still in office I would vote for AB-934. Please give me your take on this latest tenure bill. One more thought. As an elected member of the Cal- ifornia Assembly, the best analogy I have ever used to oppose tenure was the elected position I had. I told the crowd I had to convince the voters in Tehama County to renew my contract with every two years or I would have to find another job. Mytakeonthemovies Movie review: Actor Bryan Cranston from "Breaking Bad" stars in "Infiltrator." Cranston has now gone the acting distance from televi- sion's "Malcolm in The Middle." I highly recommend this film, but it has some brutal scenes. Set in the 1980s, this movie will keep you going as Cranston's character breaks up a huge drug Cartel. StanStathamserved1976-1994 in the California Assembly and was a television news anchor at KHSL-TV in Chico 1965- 1975. He is past president of the California Broadcasters Association and can be reached at StanStatham@gmail.com. StanStatham My take on teacher tenure As an elected member of the California Assembly, the best analogy I have ever used to oppose tenure was the elected position I had. I told the crowd I had to convince the voters in Tehama County to renew my contract with every two years or I would have to find another job. Sympathizes with crime victim Editor: This letter is regarding the let- ter published July 16 by Kevin Grannes. I truly sympathize with him about his robbery. I too was robbed July 10 of my purse out of my home, from right under my nose. It's a long, complicated story, but suffice it to say I was very upset. I'm on a very limited income. There was $540 in my purse that I had saved to pay off my property taxes. And aside from the usual things us women carry in our purses, there was a silver coin in there that has great sentimental value. Mr. Grannes was lucky to get is stuff back. I hope someday to get this coin back. It is silver, has an H stamped on one side, two dates and the word "Daddy" on the other. If by chance anyone should see this coin, please call me at 527- 1711, no questions asked. I know who the person was that did this and I hope that someday karma will bite him in the you know what. And I agree with Mr. Grannes, this is wrong. — Diane Vigil, Red Bluff Letter brought back memories Editor: I enjoyed reading R.D. Sul- livan's letter of July 14 regard- ing suggestions for different tunes to be played on our local church bells, specifically "Sym- pathy for the Devil." I had to chuckle, because it brought back memories from about three decades ago, when I was residing in Portland, Maine. I was a member of the State Street UCC Church. It was a large, imposing brick struc- ture with a lofty bell tower. One summer the facade was covered with scaffolding be- cause the masonry was being repaired. On a Saturday eve- ning I happened to be walking by the church, and suddenly I heard — you guessed it — "Sympathy for the Devil" waft- ing through the balmy evening air, seeming to emanate from the bell tower. When I went to church the next morning I found out what had happened. Apparently one of the workmen had a radio on the work site, and he had for- gotten to turn it off when he went home Friday night. Our sexton had discovered the prob- lem on Sunday morning in time to turn the radio off before the congregation began to gather for our service. Around that same time the other local UCC Church suf- fered a similar indignity, only with more immediate impact on the parishioners' spiritual sensibilities. A new local ra- dio station had just gone on the air, and it quickly became clear that there was some- thing wrong with either the signal frequency or the broad- cast equipment, because peo- ple started hearing the station's programming being picked up by various pieces of equipment other than their radios. On Sunday morning the ser- vice was unexpectedly inter- rupted by the station's signal coming in over the church or- gan pipes, and the members of the congregation found them- selves listening to Juice Newton warble "Angel of the Morning." Within a very few days the radio station had resolved the prob- lem, and no further disruptions of worship were reported. At the time of these occur- rences my friends and I got quite a kick out of their incon- gruity. However, I can appreci- ate that some might consider them unfortunate or distress- ing at best, perhaps even blas- phemous. So I would simply re- peat the old maxim, "be careful what you wish for." — Carol Heilsberg, Red Bluff Dealing with toxic people Editor: While I do not know what prompted Starlene Baker's heartfelt letter about dealing with toxic people, let me cut to the chase. The best way to deal with a toxic person is divorce and no contact. Being kind to a toxic per- son only encourages continued abuse in any relationship. — Vickie Linnet, Corning Gun control and violence Editor: Gun control is a farce. Don't drink and drive. Don't use a cell phone and drive. Don't text and drive. How about buckle up or a ticket. Laws depending on personal responsibility for compliance need responsible persons to be in control. Doctors treat cause, not symptoms to achieve desired, worthwhile goals. Possible solution to violence? A successful farmer doesn't fight against the weather but works with the weather. Needed now a common goal to achieve peace and love. — Steve Kelsey Undocumented border crossing should be a felony Editor: It is ridiculous to believe a continuous Mexico border wall should or will be built to pro- tect our nation from felony use of false citizenship documents and perjury. It is fair to expect our border to be protected by both federal police and warning devices to assure that at least 95 percent of illegal entry is prevented. Ig- noring undocumented bor- der crossing is a crime by our White House leaders. Citizenship should never be an option for those who have al- ready committed the crimes of illegal border crossing, plus fel- ony use of false citizenship doc- uments. Deporting those al- ready here with families is just not an option, unless there are additional crimes. Contrary to statements by candidate Trump, added crimes for the undocumented, except for those above, are probably no more prevalent than for legal citizens of all races. — Joseph Neff, Corning Your opinions Cartoonist's take When my wife, son Gideon, age 12, and I made our latest pilgrimage to the Dollywood theme park earlier this month, it reminded me of 1967, when my parents took my younger brother and me to Goldrush Junction, which, like Rebel Rail- road and Silver Dollar City, was one of the earlier incarnations of Dollywood. I remember the Tyree boys participated in a staged gun bat- tle with some desperados in the streets of the frontier "town." The souvenir newspaper our fa- ther paid for bore the person- alized headline "Danny And Dwight Gun Down The Bad Guys," over a generic story about strangers cleaning up the town. The newspaper was re- markably frill-free. Nowadays the 24-7 news cycle would re- quire bulletins such as "What Did Danny And Dwight Know And When Did They Know It?," "What Inspired The Paid Park Employees To Engage In A Gun Battle" and "Fact- Check:Surveyor's Report Shows The Town was In Fact Big Enough For Danny And Dwight And The Gunmen." I am glad the family tradi- tion continues. I'm glad Gideon got to ride a steam locomotive (after seeing one on reruns of "Petticoat Junction"), visit the eagle sanctuary, ride the Moun- tain Slidewinder water ride and watch mountain craftsmen per- forming their wizardry. I do so want him to pursue some prac- tical skills, as the norm today seems to be the skill of crafting an excuse for why one deserves a tuition-free eight years of Un- derwater Post-Renaissance Women's Studies. I'm glad we got to eat at the sleek Red's Drive In while in the 50s-themed Jukebox Junction, although if we had been hun- grier, we could have eaten at Aunt Granny's Buffet in River- town Junction. I'm glad the bumper cars convinced Gideon that he's a long way from being behind the steering wheel of a real car. My experience has me singing,"I Will Always Love You" to the airbags. I'm glad we got to see the reconstruction of the cabin where Dolly Parton grew up with her parents and 11 sib- lings. We also got to see young- sters sending a message of "Can you imagine the lack of privacy" across all their social media. Dollywood is already the home of the Southern Gos- pel Music Associaton Hall of Fame, so it's a little surprising the park didn't also grab the life-size Noah's ark that was re- cently unveiled in Kentucky. They could have paired it with an eatery such as Cousin Sister's Kitchen. "Eat two of every un- clean animal and seven of every clean animal. And wash it down with a deluge of sweet tea." Speaking of the ark, it's a wonder Bill Nye The Science Guy wasn't picketing Dolly- wood. "No, love is not like a butterfly. True, science has shown that bemusement is like a centipede and consternation is like a cicada, but love is cate- gorically not like a butterfly." Dolly has wisely decided not to take sides in the presiden- tial election; but the way the park innovates ways to make money beyond the cost of ad- mission, it makes me think she would be a good trade negotia- tor in a Trump administration. "Dolly will be out to see you trade emissaries momentarily. We'll snap a photo of you pay- ing the tariff and all you have to pay for the photo is one of your monuments, like maybe that so-called Great Wall. By the time we get through with it, it'll be yuge." Danny Tyree welcomes email responses at tyreetyrades@aol. com and visits to his Facebook fan page Tyree's Tyrades. Danny Tyree Vacation 2016 — The Tyrees do Dollywood GregStevens,Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIAL BOARD How to have your say: Letters must be signed and provide the writer's home street address and home phone number. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and no more than two double-spaced pages or 500words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@ redbluffdailynews.com Fax: 530-527-9251 Mail to: P.O. Box 220, 728Main St., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS By Danny Tyree Stan Statham OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, July 21, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4