Reggie Bush returning his Heisman Trophy; what can cure our ailing schools; trying to encourage breastfeeding

Rolling along

Re “Skate park grinds at residents,” Sept. 13

Skateboarders finally get a skateboard plaza, and neighbors are still complaining.

Youths are off the street and have a place to hang out and perform their favorite sport.

Parents have less to worry about because they know where their children are, and fewer people are bothered on the street by passing skateboarders. It is a win-win situation.

Yet neighbors still complain about the noise of the skateboarders.

Would they rather hear the noise that comes with underage drinking and those same youths vandalizing the neighborhood?

People just seem to need to have something to complain about.

Caroline Wingard

Manhattan Beach

No winners in this one

Re “Bush forfeits Heisman trophy,” Sept. 15

The problem with Reggie Bush returning the Heisman Trophy is that it doesn’t begin to address what I see as the collusion between the NFL and the major sports universities.

Baseball alone among the big three sports in our country pays for farm teams. The NFL and the NBA essentially do not,

so these billion-dollar enterprises swoop in and collect the best and the best trained without paying a thing.

Universities are equally complicit, paying exorbitant amounts to coaches, and coddling players, to create cash-cow teams.

No wonder the money men — would-be managers and agents — circle these young players, knowing what a payday they can expect. Bush is the least of the bad actors in this saga.

Nora Slattery

Topanga

I say “Mission Accomplished” with regard to USC’s NCAA-imposed penalties and now, Bush’s return of his Heisman Trophy.

More important, what can those who reaped the financial benefits from his spectacular collegiate career deliver? How about real change. Let’s have the NCAA “share the wealth” and redistribute its windfall of the revenue (i.e., its share of TV contract money from that time), giving scholarship funds to deserving students in these tough economic times. Yes, we can.

Roger Kempler

Laguna Beach

Pat Haden proclaims that Bush did the “noble” thing by returning the Heisman.

But Pat, the honorable thing is to never do it in the first place.

Ron Kasper

Newport Beach

The NCAA should take this opportunity to right a wrong that’s gone on for too long: athletes jumping ship after stellar performances without penalty.

Star athletes get into a university on a scholarship. After using the school as a showcase, they pursue the big bucks and leave their teams to rebuild. There should be rules about reimbursement if scholarship players leave to turn pro.

It’s not fair to the school, teammates left behind or fans to be penalized just because the athlete places self first.

Don A. Norman

Los Angeles

Our schools and how to fix them

Re “Back-to-school assignments,” Editorial, Sept. 12

We have been focusing on raising the scores of the lowest-performing schools for so long that we have lost sight of the bigger picture.

This determination to make sure that no student lacks the resources necessary to get an education has resulted in California ranking near the bottom of the 50 states.

Maybe it is time to focus on the highest achievers, encouraging and supporting their ideas and inspirations.

Maybe there will be an entrepreneur or two among them, whose projects will create hundreds or thousands of jobs.

California desperately needs new ideas, and jobs, to get out of its present economic situation. When the economy is humming along again, then the money and focus can return to the lowest-performing schools.

Maybe even the lowest performer will become more ambitious if he/she thinks there is a job waiting for him/her at the finish line.

Kathryn Roush

Granada Hills

Though your editorial was thoughtful and far-ranging, it needs to be put into context.

I just returned to teaching at a high school where I teach 11th- and 12th-grade English. In Period 1, I had 46 on the roster and 44 showed up; Period 2 had 39; Period 4 had 45; and my “small” class, Period 5, had 27.

Colleagues of mine in other academic subjects had 50 or more, and they do not benefit, as I do, from an extra period off to handle union affairs. Teachers at schools throughout the Los Angeles Unified School District face similar class sizes.

All the “reform” in the world will not matter if the state of California does not fund our public schools adequately.

Perhaps someone could ask the governor to cut his overseas junkets to actually do his job and settle the state budget.

There was a time not too long ago when California funded its schools at truly world-class levels. Recent talk about accountability and “value-added” rings very hollow to those of us actually doing the work in classrooms.

Where is the accountability in allowing class sizes of 40 or more?

Brad Jones

Santa Monica

Blaming only teachers for low-performing schools is wrong. Budget cuts have reduced custodial staffs. My classroom floors get so dirty that students keep their backpacks on their desks. Students have no room to take notes.

Budget cuts have made the high school student-to-counselor ratios hundreds to 1. Students may not get class changes until week three or later. Playing catch-up guarantees low grades for most.

Budget cuts have reduced textbook room staffs. Students without books learn nothing.

Putting full blame on the teachers for low achievement ignores the many unintended consequences of budget cuts.

Bob Munson

Newbury Park

Again I see a great deal of concern (and rightly so) about the schools, teachers and the poor educational standing of Los Angeles Unified.

However, I see little about the responsibility of the parents in the education of their child. The parents need to bear at least half of the failure or success of the children.

Do the parents demand reading at least three pages from a book a day? Do the parents play word games or math games with their offspring? Do they go over the homework? Do they try to increase their language skills?

Yes, education is in dire straits, but it is not just the fault of the educators.

Don Bondi

Los Angeles

The vast majority of teachers work many hours beyond the school day and do their jobs well in spite of pay cuts, tougher working conditions and little or no recognition.

It is time for administrators to be held accountable for a change. Perhaps it is time to publicize their evaluations.

Lauren Siadek

Hawthorne

Breastfeeding blues

Re “A formula for profits, not health,” Opinion, Sept. 13

Women don’t breastfeed because they need to go to work. Insurance companies stop maternity leave payments a few weeks after birth.

For women without disability insurance covering maternity — most women — the situation is even worse.

The “improvements” cited in this article refer to inner-city hospitals where many moms aren’t in the workforce. Gift bag formula is a red herring.

As a trial lawyer, I pumped breast milk by machine, in bathrooms, during court recess.

Dee Turner

Huntington Beach