June Ballot Initiatives

Re June ballot initiatives, Feb. 24: Why should I bother to vote anymore? I have taken the time and effort to vote in every election since I was 18 (I am 40 now).

After voting for four propositions that were passed by a majority of voters (187, 207, 209, 215), I wonder if my vote really does count. I would vote for Proposition 227 (require public instruction in English and end most bilingual programs), but why; some group would sue and say my vote was unconstitutional.

I think the proposition process needs to be amended. I feel that all ballot measures should be challenged before being put on the ballot. This way if a measure passes, it becomes law, not a wasted vote.

BRETT STONE

Studio City

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Re the “95/5” proposition on the June ballot for public school spending: School board members and education bureaucrats luxuriate in an architectural dream of a modern building, sit in comfy upholstered chairs, walk on plush carpets, get all the office supplies they want, have access to computers and the Internet, use pristine, working lavatories where there is always lots of soap, toilet tissue and paper towels, get air conditioning in the summer and heat in the winter.

The schoolchildren they “serve” attend schools with crumbling exteriors, leaky roofs, peeling paint, shattered windows, nonfunctioning light fixtures, filthy, broken lavatories with no toilet paper, grime-caked, rusty water fountains that vermin would avoid, severely damaged chairs and desks, antiquated textbooks or no textbooks at all, no computers, no Internet, no air conditioning even on the most sweltering days and frequently no heat during cold spells, plus the ongoing threat of violence from gun-toting and knife-wielding students and gang members.

Can the education bureaucrats explain again why it’s such a bad idea to legislate 95% of tax dollars to go to the needs of schoolchildren and the remaining 5% to go to “administration costs”?

ANNIE CAROLINE SCHULER

West Hollywood