Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/37822
4A Daily News – Saturday, July 30, 2011 Opinion Compassionate? D NEWSAILY RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 Editor: Two days ago I was at the gas pump when a young fellow asked if I could help him. He had a hunger sign and when I offered to buy him a meal he immediately asked for money. I asked if he would like a job 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 let- ters from its readers on timely topics of public interest. All let- ters must be signed and pro- vide the writer’s home street address and home phone num- ber. 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 submit- ted will be considered for publi- cation. Letters will be edited. Letters are published at the discretion of the editor. Mission Statement We believe that a strong com- munity 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 vehi- cles. The Daily News will reflect and support the unique identities of Tehama County and its cities; record the history of its com- munities and their people and make a positive difference in the quality of life for the resi- dents and businesses of Tehama County. How to reach us Main office: 527-2151 Classified: 527-2151 Circulation: 527-2151 News tips: 527-2153 Sports: 527-2153 Obituaries: 527-2151 Photo: 527-2153 On the Web www.redbluffdailynews.com Fax Newsroom: 527-9251 Classified: 527-5774 Retail Adv.: 527-5774 Legal Adv.: 527-5774 Business Office: 527-3719 Address 545 Diamond Ave. Red Bluff, CA 96080, or P.O. Box 220 Red Bluff, CA 96080 for a few hours, but he immedi- ately declined. What does that tell you? These people are homeless of their own accord. I say get a life. Thad Blanchard, Sr., Gerber Not normal Editor: There’s a new California law that requires schools to teach the lifestyles and contributions of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals starting Jan. 1, 2012. I believe this is a great idea, if they include the contribution of their lifestyle to the AIDS pandemic. In addition, an account of all the innocent peo- ple who suffered an agonizing death because of these selfish, self-centered individuals know- ingly having unprotected sex with them. We all know that will not happen, because the LGBT community of individuals will most likely write the textbooks and they will sugar-coat their lifestyle as normal. As a result, this will be taught in the same way history is, from textbooks written by people with an agen- da and be taught by teachers who march in lockstep with their unions whether they agree or not. It is just another straw on the camel’s back to tear down and destroy traditional values so there will be no right, no wrong, no moral and no immoral. Then we can become a gender-neutral society. There will be educators, teachers and administrators, that teach and oversee this debacle and then go to church on Sunday with a clear con- science? Les Wolfe, Red Bluff Elephants aren't always what they seem Editor: Don Polson says, "Maybe we should call it like it is." His column on July 25 reminded me of a story I heard many years ago. It was a story of five blind men, each feeling a different part of an elephant, and describing to each other what an elephant must look like. One said, "It's a long tubular thing, like a snake." The second one said, "It's thick and round like a tree trunk.," The third one said, "No, it's thin and flat, as he touched the ear," and so on. through life, you are way ahead of the game. You can play at being homeless, and when you are through, you can fall back on your knowledge and get right back on track. However, if you grew up in a Your Turn broken home, or in foster care, and did not have a stable child- hood, things could be a lot different. Or if you are unlucky enough to have mental illness, and are not capable of planning your life like most people, you are at a disadvan- tage. Another point is that when I think Mr. Polson has hold of the thin little tail, and is try- ing to describe the homeless sit- uation with only a small part of the knowledge. In the first place, if you are raised by a family that teaches you the skills you need to get Mr. Polson did his experiment- ing with homelessness, times were different. The economy was in better shape. There were more jobs available. You didn't have a family you were trying to take care of while living in a car, a tent or just on the streets. You can't judge everyone's situation by what you did as a young man. I am happy for you that you were given the tools to be able to work your way back. Allene Dering, Red Bluff Your officials STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Jim Nielsen (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 6031 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 319-2002; Fax (916) 319-2102 STATE SENATOR — Doug LaMalfa (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 3070 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 651-4004; Fax (916) 445-7750 GOVERNOR — Jerry Brown, State Capitol Bldg., Sacramento, CA 95814; (916) 445-2841; Fax (916) 558-3160; E-mail: gover- nor@governor.ca.gov. U.S. REPRESENTATIVE — Wally Herger (R), 2635 Forest Ave. Ste. 100, Chico, CA 95928; 893-8363. U.S.SENATORS — Dianne Feinstein (D), One Post Street, Suite 2450, San Francisco, CA 94104; (415) 393-0707. Fax (415) 393-0710. Barbara Boxer (D), 1700 Montgomery St., Suite 240, San Francisco, CA 94111; (415) 403-0100. Fax (202) 224- 0454. School boarding, enhanced torture — Part II Commentary Last column I talked a little bit about our public school structure in California, provided some interest- ing (at least to me) data about the system, and addressed some gover- nance issues. This column will look at the passage of AB114 to illustrate the difficulties local school boards face in trying to gov- ern locally. AB114 also illustrates the unforeseen complications involved in sneaking a bill by all of us in a hurry. With the recent California bud- get problems, school finance has become more and more uncertain, putting local school boards in a position to make difficult deci- sions. According to the California Budget Project, “Lawmakers cut the overall annual funding level for K-12 public schools by $6.3 bil- lion, from $50.3 billion in 2007-08 to $44.1 billion in 2009-10. Law- makers cut schools’ general pur- pose dollars as well as funds ear- marked for specific school pro- grams, often referred to as categor- icals. Adding to schools’ financial stress, since 2008-09 the state has also deferred $6.3 billion in pay- ments to schools. The delay in pay- ments forced many school districts to borrow and pay interest on loans or make program cuts.” For Tehama County this has meant cuts in excess of $4.5 mil- lion for the schools in our county; this amounts to a loss of over $420 per student on average. Being on a local school board means making difficult and unpopular decisions. Concerns about staffing reduc- tions, class size increases, elimina- tion of programs, and concerns about retirement programs have permeated the news in our local newspaper for good reason. This is a time when local flexibility is essential. AB114 makes that even more difficult. AB114 was signed by the Gov- ernor on June 30; it passed through the legislature without public hear- ings, or public input. It reminded me of Sacramento at its worst, the Sacramento that can be relied upon to work out of sight, behind our backs and against our best inter- ests. AB114 does not pass the smell test. According to reliable sources the 74 page bill was agreed upon between Democratic leaders, the Governor, and the California State Teachers Association (CTA); the bill was not read by legislators who voted on it on June 28th, the vote in the Assembly was 51 to 28, in the Senate 23 to 16. It was signed into law on June 30th. AB114 began as a very short piece of legislation in January; in its entirety it read: “SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature to enact statutory changes relating to the Budget Act of 2011.” The bill was a place holder, a bill that can be modified at a later time without lots of procedural hurdles. That is how they do business in Sacramen- to; this short bill became much larger over time, beginning with changes that were made in early June, and resulting in the bill that was passed and signed with mini- mal notice. AB114 limits the authority of the County Superintendent of Schools to control local school dis- trict budgets, and it also limits the previously held ability of local school boards to reduce staff after the state budget was adopted. (This limitation will be for this school year only.) The bill also allows for the reduction of the minimum number of school days by up to seven. Until AB114 the County Super- intendent of Schools could approve, approve conditionally, or disapprove the adopted budgets by local school districts. The purpose for this approval process was to assure that local school districts would give multiyear considera- tion in adopting a budget. AB114, however, requires that school dis- tricts must assume they will receive the same amount of money per child in 2011-12 as in 2010-11. The bill prevents the county superintendent from requiring schools look beyond the 2011-12 in adopting their bud- gets. The bill mandates local school boards to pretend. AB 114 also takes away the "August win- dow" for laying off teachers. Traditionally, most districts have already made needed teacher layoffs in March, based on what their bud- gets show. But if the state budget is on time and there is less than a 2 percent increase in funding, dis- tricts were allowed to make addi- tional teacher layoffs by Aug. 15… except for AB114 which says, even though you are mandated to believe you receive the same amount of money as in 2010-11, you have to pretend this is at least a 2 percent increase. This bill is a preemptive strike to prevent local school board flexibility that might result in fur- ther layoffs of teachers through- out the state. According to the Los Angeles Times AB114 is “Ham-fisted yet pandering, and fiscally irresponsible too, AB 114 perpetrates an abuse of state power that could wreak bud- getary havoc in local school dis- tricts.” The pandering in the Times, of course, refers to the obvious favor to the CTA. In other words, schools are sup- posed to use the same rosy colored fiscal forecasting glasses that our state representatives use. Local boards will have to pretend next Joe Harrop year will be as “good” as this year. What this means is that the local school boards have been mandated to trust the wisdom of our legisla- ture which admittedly is relying on more income than most likely will develop this next year. To repeat myself, our state government has legislated that our local school boards will prac- tice fiscal blindness and irresponsibility. This is state mandated stupidi- ty, to be polite, and the costs both fiscal and organizational will be paid by local school dis- tricts. There is some humor in this, however. In the rush to put this legisla- tion together the “knowledgeable” crafters forgot an important section of the gigantic Education Code. In order to receive a full year toward retirement credits a teacher must work at least 175 days; if the school year is reduced below that, teachers in those districts will not receive a full year’s credit toward retirement. This reminds me of try- ing to patch a leaky hose instead of replacing it; you patch one place and it puts more pressure on anoth- er location which then leaks, and so on. If you see a local school board member throwing his/her hands up in the air in a sign of desperation, be sure you take time to offer con- dolences. As one school board member recently told me the new enhanced interrogation procedure is not water boarding, but school boarding. Joe Harrop is a retired educator with more than 30 years of service to the North State. He can be reached at DrJoeHarrop@sbcglobal.net.