Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/234144
4A Daily News – Saturday, December 28, 2013 Opinion 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. 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. 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Fred Boest, Red Bluff Unions Editor: Joseph Neff continues his unions-are-the-cause of all things that negatively impact his view of the world, and teacher's unions are the worst of all. Without facts and data Mr. Neff's opinion is exactly where it should be, on the opinion page. Will he continue to simply repeat his factless opinions that have been thrown around for generations, or will he consider some data from around the world? Finland has the top performing educational system in the world. They have the top scores in math and science, and are second to Korea in reading. The tax liability for the Finns is almost 50%. All teachers in Finland belong to a union. Canada is another country where education is the priority for the future. Taxes in Canada go heavily towards education and medicine — not the military. In California, most schools are unionized. Few charter schools are unionized. With very few exceptions, non-charter schools outperform charter schools on state tests. Contrary to Neff's argument, my facts say all teachers should be unionized for the betterment of the student. Taxes should be higher to support a student's education or that tax dollars be distributed more in favor of education. Tehama County's average income is half the California average. It is easy to generate negativity towards a group who make more money than the average citizen in our county. I wonder how Neff was personally harmed by our educational system. Or is he simply attacking the only large, organized group of people (98% I have worked 20 years in middle class) that's left that supports, primarily, liberal politi- union and non-union grocery stores and for 15 years as a cians. Excellent administrators can unionized teacher. I am a school and do follow due process to board member. I am on and have remove ineffective teachers. It been on both sides of the aisle. As an employee doesn't happen often, receiving a living wage but does when necesYour — not Neff's "high pay sary. Doing the same scale" — I am better thing over and over off unionized. If I while expecting change owned a business, I is a definition of insanimay want to pay as ty. Teachers do have to expect administrators to direct they used to in company towns. them in a different direction Script to shop at the company teaching-wise when results stag- store and very little cash might be nate. Yes, I may not agree with an owner's dream. Where do you the changes. As a teacher, I am stand? Unions act as moral watchstill an employee and have a superior, the administration, from men in an economic society. whom I am to take direction. When business is able to take Being unionized, both parties also more and more advantage of its have a contract jointly agreed to. workers, support for the worker We operate through the contract. comes from unions. As the midThe public may not agree with dle class numbers dwindle and the terms of the contract, but that the poor increase, few individuals is how a unionized business or rake in the big bucks. Their bilorganization operates. Courts and lions are often spent attacking the bargaining of new contracts laws regulating worker rights — make changes as the time and Koch brothers. The little guy society — and political majority doesn't have an equivalent voice. A union helps him or her to be — change. Unions have given Americans heard against the blaring broada 40-hour work week, paid holi- casts owed by big business. If all we hear is one side, it's days, overtime pay, and laws against child labor. Profit-only all we think we know. Open guided corporations and busi- your scope of knowledge by nesses would love to eliminate hearing many diverse views. Jamie Hickok, Red Bluff what unions have given. Turn Your officials STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Dan Logue, 150 Amber Grove Drive, Ste. 154, Chico, CA 95928, 530-895-4217 STATE SENATOR — Jim Nielsen, 2635 Forest Ave., Ste. 110, Chico, CA 95928, (530) 879-7424, senator.nielsen@senate.ca.gov GOVERNOR — Jerry Brown, State Capitol Bldg., Sacramento, CA 95814; (916) 445-2841; Fax (916) 5583160; E-mail: governor@governor.ca.gov. U.S. REPRESENTATIVE — Doug LaMalfa 506 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515, 202-2253076. U.S. SENATORS — Dianne Feinstein (D), One Post Street, Suite 2450, San Francisco, CA 94104; (415) 393-0707. Fax (415) 3930710. Barbara Boxer (D), 1700 Montgomery St., Suite 240, San Francisco, CA 94111; (510) 286-8537. Fax (202) 224-0454. Commentary Remembering the future, forgetting the past This is the time of the year when we look back at what has happened and then look forward to what comes next. Sometimes we make dire predictions about the future, and often we see the past through the proverbial rose colored glasses. We do tend to "remember" the past much the way we would like it to have been rather than how it actually was. When I speak of my time in the Army these days I sound like I had a wonderful time as I fondly recall this or that event. My wife tells me I should reread the daily letters I sent her during those two years and see if they describe just what I "remember" now. My memories and my letters do not seem to be relating the same events. We are constantly bombarded by both local and national political "thinkers" who try to remind us about our Founding Fathers and the principles upon which this country was founded. In Red Bluff we even have a young man attending various public meetings around town reminding us he carries a copy of the Constitution in his pocket, telling us what "We the people" means, and declaring he has done "research" on various issues, meaning he has selectively read something about those issues. He has created his own past that is imperfect, to say the least. There is an ancient story related by Plato and told by Socrates about the Egyptian god, Thoth, who invented writ- ing. The Egyptian king at the time of the story was Thamus, and he was very critical about the invention of writing. He chastised Thoth, "your invention will promote forgetfulness into the soul of those who learn it; they will not practice using their memory because they will trust in writing, which is external and depends on signs that belong to others, instead of trying to remember from inside completely on their own….You have not invented a potion for remembering, but for reminding. You provide your students with the appearance of wisdom, not with its reality. Your invention will enable them to hear many things without being properly taught, and they will imagine that they have come to know much while for the most part they will know nothing. And they will be difficult to get along with, since they will merely appear to be wise instead of really being so." Using various search engines on the net to find out "facts" is not the same thing as doing research. A good history book documents the research behind its conclusions instead of cherry picking quotes from here or there to build a superfluous case for a particular point of view. As some wise person said, "the Devil can quote scripture." One reason I like to read good history books is that they go back to source documents and memoirs; they are loaded with footnotes; and they try to reconstruct history as it unfolded, not view it through the lens of a particular political bias. Often good history she rotated between the homes of her eight children, and books have almost as when it was our turn many pages of footnotes we spent a lot of time as actual text, helping playing various card the reader understand games and listening to the reason for the my grandmother comauthor's opinions or plain about governinterpretations. ment policy. Once I These days we see had the courage to ask the future through comher, "Grandma, who puter graphics and anidid you vote for?" mation; it is a future of Grandma replied, "I dire consequences, invadon't vote." Although I sions, plagues, and super Joe was young and not heroes who can set all sure what to say, I things straight. This is a blurted out, "Then lot of wasted imaginahow can you complain tion, it is beneath us, and about the governis demeaning to our ment?" She did not roles as citizens. In reality, as citizens we are in answer. Voting, of course, is just one the position of trying to make things right, to set the ship of state of the things we can do to make on a better course, and to work for our city, county, state, and nation a better community. Rather than a better place. For a country that bemoaning our deviation from prides itself as a democracy our some imaginative historical path voter participation rate is and complaining about the dire abysmally low. Over 90 million future, we can, working together, eligible to vote did not bother to vote in the 2012 national elecinfluence our future. At a recent City Council meet- tion. In California almost 10 miling to deal with a new ordinance lion did not bother to vote. This coming year will bring banning leaf burning, one council member complained about big many challenges; let us not spend government and banning large time reconstructing the past, sugary soft drinks; a more prag- framing issues in buzz words, matic councilman told him and just grumping and groaning. directly that the council was not Let us resolve to be more dealing with hypotheticals or bat- informed, participate more, and tling "big government", but with listen carefully. the very concrete issue of elimiJoe Harrop is a retired nating unhealthy smoke from leaf educator with more than 30 fires. When I was growing up my years of service to the North father's mother would stay with State. He can be reached at us for a month or so each year; DrJoeHarrop@sbcglobal.net. Harrop