Mailbag: Glendale Unified’s motivations seem clear

I attended both of the Sagebrush hearings over the past two weeks. I even spoke at the second one. One thing was certain, the vitriol, hyperbole and deceit from one side was nauseating. Two women opposing the transfer spoke at the first meeting. One compared the Sagebrush residents to fascists. The other implied the Sagebrush parents only wanted their kids to go to a school where their kids would look like them.

It gets worse. No one from the anti-transfer side, not even the Glendale superintendent, apologized for those hateful and racist comments. My guess is that it is the prevailing sentiment among the Glendale Unified side.

The usual scare tactics of a desperate school board also came into play with threats of teacher layoffs and cutbacks if the Sagebrush students were to transfer. Really, 200 students will wreak economic havoc in a school system with more than 25,000 students? Two Sagebrush residents actually spoke out against the transfer. However, they both forgot to mention that they worked for Glendale Unified.

Contrast that to the case for transfer articulated by Andrew Blumenfeld, a former member of the La Cañada Unified school board. He made a very compelling and factual argument which was the highlight of the second meeting. If the transfer is approved he deserves a great deal of credit for making that happen.

I certainly was not expecting that amount of animosity and anger from the Glendale/La Crescenta contingent. It is sad that they have turned this into a David vs. Goliath battle, and you know how that ended. La Cañada comprises such a small part of the gigantic Glendale Unified School District, and it is obvious from the comments that our students are only seen as dollar signs. Sagebrush is viewed as outsiders to Glendale Unified and are only tolerated because it provides a small funding source. All we are asking is to let La Cañada residents attend La Cañada schools.

Bob Tanabe

La Cañada Flintridge