Extended school days wouldn’t help
Regarding “State could use an education on ideal length of school day” (Insight, April 23): Studies on extended school day practices are actually quite divided, with many showing no link to student improvement. Furthermore, the U.S. already keeps kids in school far more than most countries. In Finland, which has exceptional test scores, the average student spends 608 hours in the classroom annually. In California, it’s 900!
The article also suggests that teachers are lazy part-time workers, noting that a state senator says he’d support their tax exemption if they were given a longer school day and year. Seriously? The entire point of this proposed exemption is that the state is having such difficulty retaining teachers that it’s looking for ways to incentivize the profession. From personal experience, I assure you that teacher hours are already much longer than full time. Knowledge Is Power Program schools, which the article cites as a glowing model for extended day, are infamous for exhausting teachers. Their attrition rate is double the national average! Overworked teachers cannot meet their students’ needs.
Jennifer Wegner-Tamo, Oakland
Senator’s leadership
Regarding “Is it time for Feinstein to retire?” (Open Forum, May 1): After reading the opinion piece and the few letters to the editor in favor of this, no one has cited a reason for dumping Feinstein except for her age. In other words, her performance is not in question.
Would this happen if she were a man? In today’s political climate, we need good people with the experience to fight fascism and greed overtaking our democracy, and to teach the next generation of Democrats how to lead — in that order. Talk about age discrimination and then turning a blind eye to it, or worse, supporting it. Feinstein and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi have done an outstanding job, and they deserve our support, as we need their leadership and experience now more than ever!
James Masciandaro, San Bruno
Feinstein should stay
Regarding “Is it time for Feinstein to retire?”: I guess ageism is the last acceptable prejudice, even here in the liberal Bay Area. With a madman in the White House, we need Sen. Dianne Feinstein now more than ever. She is more effective than many — maybe most — legislators half her age.
My politics may be to the left of hers, but on things that matter, especially during this most dangerous time in our nation’s history, she is there. Her staunch activism on gun control, reproductive choice and a host of other issues is beyond question. But her ability to make a difference now, on key committees such as Judiciary and Intelligence, is crucial. She has the gravitas and respect that no newbie would have, and the ability to reach across the aisle.
I wake up every morning praying that President Trump won’t serve out his full term. If there’s any chance of removing him, Feinstein will be instrumental in that effort. But if Trump stays, we need someone to keep him from doing his worst, and that won’t happen by fighting him on every single issue. We need our gadflies in Congress, but we also need Feinstein to help keep the worst from happening.
If we were at risk of electing a Republican governor in California, I would say Larry Gerston might have a point, since we wouldn’t want a Republican appointed to fill Feinstein’s seat should she have to step down midterm. But that’s not going to happen, and I want Feinstein in there fighting to keep us safe and our country strong — and free — as long as she feels she can.
Anne Whetstone, Oakland
Identifying man’s worth
Regarding “Fathers’ unemployment takes big toll on children” (Insight, April 30): The key paragraph for me is that “early research finds that a father losing a job has a more adverse effect on a child than an unemployed mother or even one who is at work.” This will continue to be true as long as a man’s worth and identity is reflected by his profession, or lack thereof. Women, to this day, are first identified as mother, wife, sister or daughter, and second by her professional “job.”
Society needs to find an alternative to our current “work ethic.” If all members of society had a basic guaranteed income that covered housing, food, medical and education, then a man — or a woman, for that matter — could spend the day volunteering in school, gardening, building houses with Habitat for Humanity, being an art docent or countless other activities that would benefit us all. In our current climate of increasing automation and offshoring jobs, no amount of job creation and retraining is going to solve the problem of identifying a man’s worth by what he does to bring home the bacon.
Becky Bell, Los Altos