John McCain

Re “McCain: A Leader, Not a ‘Maverick,’ ” Commentary, Dec. 19: It doesn’t seem that long ago that I, a liberal and open-minded thinker, supported the likes of Tom Kuchel, a devout Republican and a “man of his word,” whose monumental work in the U.S. Senate made him one of my eight heroes.

Comes now Sen. John McCain, described by Robert C. McFarlane as one who in many instances “made the people’s case,” using health and cigarettes, soft money and campaign finance reform as his vehicles to describe McCain’s leadership. The author puts him in good company (although he left out Everett Dirksen). McCain, to my way of thinking, has the right stuff to be a president “of stature,” so unlike many of our presidents of the recent past. Do I have disagreements with some of his positions? Yes. Go, Sen. McCain, and make us proud of our leaders once again.

JERRY ARONOW

West Hollywood

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Re “McCain Pumps Up Teaching Benefit,” Dec. 19:

Proposals to use federal money to reward teachers whom states determine to be the best at improving student scores on an unspecified assessment tool with a 25% income tax break would result in dividing the ranks of teachers and damaging their morale. The method of assessing correlation of student improvement and teachers’ behaviors is bound to be controversial, and the fact that a few teachers would earn more money than their equally hard-working peers would seriously erode the collegial, cooperative spirit so necessary to successful schools.

If McCain really wants “to offer relief for the men and women who teach our children every day,” he should reward all teachers, every one of them who competently manages curricula and students. Teachers who lack skills should be fired if, after mentoring and training for a reasonable amount of time, they are found unable to teach effectively.

Demographics such as transience rate, population density and variations among districts’ resources also impact student performance statistics, effectively lowering pay (and morale) of teachers who work in districts and schools that fare poorly in these categories.

PAUL VAN LENT

San Bernardino