Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/176391
4A Daily News – Saturday, September 21, 2013 Opinion Common Core DAILY NEWS RED BLUFF TEHAMA COUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U NTY S I N C E 1 8 8 5 Greg Stevens, Publisher gstevens@redbluffdailynews.com Chip Thompson, Editor editor@redbluffdailynews.com Editorial policy The Daily News opinion is expressed in the editorial. The opinions expressed in columns, letters and cartoons are those of the authors and artists. Editor: As a lifelong education champion, I am concerned that taxes will continue to be wasted on declining public school academic performance. Our nation has the highest per student spending of developed nations but the lowest performance in math, science, and reading skills. About every decade, this past half century, educators introduce another failing savior of education such as "New Math" of 1960, ending phonics, "No child left behind," and the latest scheme, "Common Core." Sacramento Democrat legislators have made it more difficult to grade teacher's on their knowledge transfer skills, by ending the baseline State Tests of this past decade and mandating another test that will delay reform of comparative grading of failing teachers versus high performers. Declining public school education standards, and delayed termination of teachers with inadequate knowledge transfer skills, will directly cut US job formation. Charter schools and vouchers are a proven method of creating competition to improve the quality of public schools and should be an immediate reform. Joseph Neff, Corning Go for it Editor: I thought we just raised the debt ceiling. What happened? We spent too much again? Obama and the liberals got all they wanted. Birth control, abortion, Obamacare, cell phones for so many, etc. and they still whine. TSA nuts that had fun on our money, nobody was fired, some got promoted, so much has been wasted, this is why we run out of money. Con- ham, etc. have been there way gress got raises, don't forget. too long. In California Feinstein And, Obama has spent hundreds and Boxer also. They begin to of millions of dollars promoting feel privileged and take liberties Obamacare, which was forced to promote their power. I had heard of the Jefferson on we citizens. He's also saying just because we raise the ceiling State situation, didn't understand it but after readdoesn't mean we have ing about it and expemore debt. Well, give riencing what is going them a few more Your on for so many years, I months, they'll fix can see the real need that. for it. I had no idea it Did any of the libencompassed counties erals listen to why Detroit failed, it was under in Oregon or even as far south as Democrat leadership for 50 Tehama County. As far as I'm years. The real truth is they concerned, go for it. Southern California deserves want what they want, at any cost, period. No logic, no plan- whatever they get. Undocuning, no thinking for the future. mented people sitting on our They whine and whine and courts, obtaining driver's license blame the Republicans for to go to jobs when they're not everything from global warming suppose to be here. It's time the to whatever comes to mind. It's northern counties break loose and give them what they ask for. their fault. The real problem is there They deserve it and I hope it should be term limits. Pelosi, happens. Bernice Cressy, Cottonwood Reed, McCann, Schumer, Gra- Turn Your officials Letter policy The Daily News welcomes letters from its readers on timely topics of public interest. All 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 cannot exceed two double-spaced pages or 500 words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section of those submitted will be considered for publication. Letters will be edited. Letters are published at the discretion of the editor. Mission Statement We believe that a strong community newspaper is essential to a strong community, creating citizens who are better informed and more involved. The Daily News will be the indispensible guide to life and living in Tehama County. We will be the premier provider of local news, information and advertising through our daily newspaper, online edition and other print and Internet vehicles. The Daily News will reflect and support the unique identities of Tehama County and its cities; record the history of its communities and their people and make a positive difference in the quality of life for the residents and businesses of Tehama County. 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Barbara Boxer (D), 1700 Montgomery St., Suite 240, San Francisco, CA 94111; (510) 286-8537. Fax (202) 224-0454. Commentary Will secession succeed, part two Last week I wrote a little about the State of Jefferson, an imagined bastion of common sense and freedom from Southern California. I mentioned the enormous amount of debt the state would have to carry just to get started like a real state. I'd like to explore some more about this dream. But first, a mea culpa: In reading my column in Saturday's paper I caught an error; apparently Jack Fennel caught it as well. Although my math was correct, my numbers were not! I multiplied when I should have divided last week when I spoke of the ratio of State Senators and State Assembly members per person. Well, maybe my math was not correct after all. The correct numbers appear below. Based on that error I could not qualify as a navigator while Dr Fennel piloted a plane. My mistake reminds me of the story of the navigator who shrugged his shoulders and said to the pilot, "it was only a decimal error" as they splashed down in the ocean miles from the runway. Depending on the actual configuration of the new state it would have an area between 65,145 and 67,472 square miles, making it about the same size as Florida and Wisconsin, placing it about 20th on the list of states. Jefferson would be about twice the size of South Carolina which at one time tried to secede by starting our Civil War on April 12, 1861 when Ft. Sumter was attacked. South Carolina and the Confederacy were unsuccessful, of course. Some believe South Carolina has actually seceded, and is just putting on a facade about being part of the United States, but I think we can discount that as a southern legend. Part of the drive for Jefferson is the need for rural areas to have more effective representa- tion. Some of that concern derives from the Reynolds v Sims U. S. Supreme Court decision of 1964. That decision said that the state senate in Alabama which allowed for one state senator per county did not allow for equal protection, or as some put it, "one person one vote" representation. California's own U.S. Chief Justice Earl Warren was quoted to say, "Legislators represent people, not trees or acres. Legislators are elected by voters, not farms or cities or economic interests." (Sounds like they were not anticipating Citizens United.) Warren was not around when our "Founding Fathers" drafted our United States Constitution which ignored that principle in creating the U.S. Senate with two senators per state. They felt that having a House of Representatives which is essentially representative of the population and a Senate which is not, would balance interests, slow rushes to harmful legislation, allow smaller states to have more say in what happens in the federal government, and avoid what they called the "tyranny of the majority." Without the Reynolds decision Siskiyou County would have one state senator, and other rural counties would also have disproportionate representation in the State Senate, much as the smaller states and the Old South do in the U.S. Senate; this would allow the California State Senate to act in some ways like the Founding Fathers hoped the U.S. Senate might act. The drafters of the U.S. Constitution thought the unrepresentative U.S. Senate was a good idea for the nation, and I am sure those of the California Constitution did as well. At the point of the Reynolds case rural counties lost their ability to garner serious impact on legisla- tion. In effect it became uncon- would allow for the representastitutional to model your state tives to actually get to know their constituencies, government after the and possibly even federal Constitution! pay attention to the A goodly amount of needs of their elecurgency to form Jeffertorate. son stems from the If I were in a problem of adequate county targeted for representation; let's Jeffersonianism I examine that. I believe would pursue the we can alleviate the repmore practical plan resentation problem, of unicameralism. provide a stronger voice Combined with to the people, save some term limits, money, counteract the Joe strict residency overall negative rating requirements, over of our state legislature, lapping terms so and avoid the complicaonly one fifth of the tions of secession and legislature stands forming a new state. In California we have one election in a given year, we State Senator for about 950,000 might even have a state governpeople, and one Assembly ment that pays more attention to member for about 476,000 of its job than to reelections. Nebraska has only one legus. (These are the correct numbers calculated by the proper islative house. According to Wikipedia: "Nebraska is the math.) The United States House of only state in the United States Representatives has 435 mem- with a unicameral legislature. bers, or about one per 710,000 Although this house is officially of us on average; however, since known simply as the "Legislaevery state is guaranteed at least ture", and more commonly Congressional Representative, called the "Unicameral", its the actual ratio varies from state members call themselves "senato state. In California the ratio tors". Nebraska's Legislature is is 716,000 to one; if you toss in also the only state legislature in our two U.S. Senators the ratio the United States that is nonpartisan. The senators are elected is 690,000 to one. Based on the numerical aver- with no party affiliation next to age we are mathematically bet- their names on the ballot, and ter represented in the federal the speaker and committee government than we are in our chairs are chosen at large, so that own State Senate. "Better" is members of any party can be chosen for these positions. The not a value judgment. To this writer it makes no Nebraska Legislature can also sense to have two houses in our override a governor's veto with a state legislature if both have to three-fifths majority, in contrast be determined on the basis of to the two-thirds majority equal representation. We could required in some other states." On paper at least, Nebraska solve a lot of our state government problems if we reconsti- seems to make common sense. tuted our legislature into a uniJoe Harrop is a retired cameral one, and if we used the same total number of senators educator with more than 30 and assembly members we cur- years of service to the North rently have, each would repre- State. He can be reached at sent around 310,000 of us. This DrJoeHarrop@sbcglobal.net. Harrop