Choosing Sides in the Special Election Battle

Re “Governor Puts Agenda on the Ballot,” June 14: Once again, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is whining that he is going to tell his mommy (“the voters”) if the other boys won’t let him be leader!

Rather than blowing the millions (that he supposedly saved us by cutting our school systems and health and disability care) on special referendums, why don’t we just send him back to Central Casting. Then we can get a real person who can actually be a leader without having to hand out a script to everyone.

David Porter

Mountain View

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We are about to spend $80 million for a special election in November. Can we try to save just a little of this by having the election by mail?

John Unrath

Seal Beach

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Re “Teachers Boost Dues to Battle Gov.,” June 12: Teachers throughout California spend hundreds of dollars each year buying classroom materials because they are dedicated to the children of our state.

Now they have voted to contribute even more money to fight for education.

This is not “a tax,” as the governor’s spokesman, Todd Harris, says. This is one more instance of teachers working together for California.

What does the governor call his $1,000-a-plate dinners? What does he call the donations he is getting from out-of-state people who should not have any say in how California’s schools work?

Mariana Robles

Riverside

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Shame on the California Teachers Assn., of which I am a reluctant member.

How can the No. 1 lobby group in the state be such a miserable failure?

California class sizes are double the national average, and the CTA wants to spend $50 million protecting teachers who are not doing their jobs.

Until teachers unions start fighting for better classroom conditions and more accountability for both teachers and students, instead of just fighting for pay raises and the right of teachers to be incompetent, the educational status quo will persist.

The CTA’s plan to tax teachers $60 each per year for up to three years to fight the governor’s efforts to reform California education is just more of the same nonsense.

The CTA should give up spending my money on its political agenda and start working for an incentive system that will inspire teachers and students to do their best.

Keith Abouaf

Los Angeles