Letters to the Editor: Readers offer thoughts on Crosby, Najarian pieces; another sees hope in local millennials

Re: Brian Crosby’s article in the News-Press on May 4, “Trump’s Teacher of the Year ceremony shows disdain for education.” I didn’t know about Crosby’s book, “Smart Kids, Bad Schools,” but I would like to know whether he wrote about the failure of public schools to teach cursive writing, civics and how government works, and about budgeting and money management. If not, shame on him!

Teachers should be paid on the merit system, as effective classroom teachers are worth their weight in gold. Rules should be changed to allow the dismissal of substandard performing teachers. Crosby’s rants about President Trump and his bloviating about Obama should not get him a pay raise or even any accolades.

Edward M. Coffman
Glendale

..

This weekend’s edition of the Glendale News-Press (May 20-21) was a breath of fresh air. The front page included an article about local eighth-grader Ella Tamny, who had completed a project to install a lovely garden on her school’s campus and Zach Coco, a young man who is conducting a project to chronicle the lives of World War II veterans. Inside was Brian Crosby’s column detailing his pride in the accomplishments of his thoughtful and well-rounded son Ben, who is headed for college in the fall.

These three millennials who represent our best hope for the future are representative of my experiences with this younger generation. They are hopeful and confident in their ability to accomplish goals. So to all those cranky baby boomers with short memories about their own selfish youth who luxuriate in complaining about “entitled behavior,” please open your eyes to these “kids.” They are the ones who are going to fix the stuff we messed up.

Jean Taeuffer
La Crescenta

..

Re: “We need practical solutions to distracted driving,” op-ed, May 18. Ara Najarian gets a nice four-column op-ed basically blowing his own horn about getting Glendale $295,000 for traffic-related safety measures.

In addition to more enforcement, Najarian believes it’s also important to educate people that distracted driving is dangerous.

I ask you, who doesn’t know that staring down at a cellphone while driving is dangerous? Who needs to be told this could lead to an accident? Ask anyone if driving blindfolded is a good idea and see what answers you get.

The problem is that the people who text and drive just don’t care, and no amount of “education,” whatever that is, is going to make them care.

I believe the only thing that could possibly get the attention of the “texting driver” is more draconian penalties. Increased fines, license suspension, vehicle impounding. Stop with the education and put all the money into enforcement.

Now let’s get to the real problem: 20-something drivers who think they are exempt from all traffic laws because they paid in excess of $80,000 for their Maserati, 7 Series BMW or 5 Series Mercedes. Try to educate those drivers that just because their cars will go 200 mph is no excuse for going 70 mph on a city street, that stop signs actually mean stop, not just slow down to 50 mph, and left-turning traffic must yield to oncoming traffic.

Now we might be getting somewhere.

Jim Kussman
Glendale