Davis on Education

* I have one question for Gov. Gray Davis regarding his plans for education: Where’s the beef?

Where’s the increased funding for textbooks, equipment and supplies that teachers need to be effective? Where’s the money to install air conditioning so that students can concentrate on hot days? Where’s the funding to buy up-to-date books for school libraries and provide trained librarians for our children? Where’s the dough to fix the leaking roofs and repair decrepit restrooms? Where’s the money for art and music programs to nourish children’s souls?

How about raising salaries for all teachers across the board to attract and retain good people? Why not provide more counselors for all grade levels? Maybe UC and Cal State University fees could be cut in half to make higher education more affordable for everyone. Where’s the will to raise educational spending to the national average? (What an unreasonable goal--to be “average.”) Instead, we just get more political gimmicks.

JOHN ROBERTS

Arcadia

* I can help Gov. Davis in his campaign to fill California’s schools with qualified teachers. Pay them a living wage. One comparable to doctors, lawyers or maybe even professional athletes.

TOM IANNUCCI

Los Angeles

* Does it strike anyone else as grossly unfair and possibly illegal to exclude private school students from any grant program the state may initiate for top-performing students (Jan. 5)? The parents of private school students pay as much in state taxes as parents who send their children to public school.

The governor should visit some of the private schools he wishes to exclude. The families are not all affluent and have sacrificed greatly to send their children to private schools. They need college tuition relief as much or more than parents of public school children. Under the current proposal, students at Beverly Hills, Pacific Palisades, Arcadia, San Marino and La Canada high schools could receive state grants to the exclusion of any private school student, no matter how needy or how accomplished.

SANDRA SWITZER

Glendale

* Will you please stop saying that teachers work an average of 37 weeks per year (“State Teachers Union Faces Calls for Change,” Jan. 7). What is left unaccounted for are the multitude of hours spent on after-school and nighttime supervision, grading tests, homework and essays, lesson planning and finally attending seminars and keeping current with our subject areas. My average workweek encompasses at least 50 to 60 hours. If I hear one more time, “You teachers have it easy, with summers and holidays off,” well, I’ll keep working, because that’s what we dedicated teachers do.

CAROL SPECTOR

Ventura

* Aside from certain job protection provisions, there is little in current educational policy or practice in California that reflects the will of the teachers. Also, whenever a comparison is made between salaries in California and the national average, it should really be accompanied by a similar comparison in cost of living, shouldn’t it?

DONALD KERNS

Garden Grove