Provide kids classroom and remote learning
With the rise of coronavirus infection rates among minors, debate is raging again among parents on whether to keep children in classrooms or return to remote learning. There are legitimate concerns on both sides.
Why not allow both? Why not split the instructors 50-50 (or whatever proportion best reflects local needs) and cater to different populations? Not all families have the same needs — some desperately need their children to return to school in-person, while others cannot afford the risk of infection.
It baffles me that, to score political points, the government wants to impose a single option onto the entire student population, which has needs that are as diverse as the demographic makeup of California. We would never force a vegan diet onto a population of vegetarians and non-vegetarians.
Why force reluctant families to go to school in-person or those who don’t want to stay home to go remote? Provide both and let families choose.
Chris W-C Li, San Francisco
Obit not the full story
Regarding “Idealist a keeper of the North Beach flame” (Obituaries, Jan. 9): Tony Ryan was a friend of mine since the mid-1960s, and I think Sam Whiting’s obituary, in tone and substance, missed much of the enduring quality and scope of Tony’s life.
Tony was widely read. He was a natural teacher. He might not have written poetry but he published two books of poetry — one, a collection by Roque Dalton (which he also translated) and the other, a collection of Ho Chi Minh’s poetry. Tony came to lecture in my classroom on occasion and his depth of knowledge about Cuba was profound and nuanced. His connections to Cuba were very deep. And he always defended its revolution.
The obituary’s penultimate paragraph contains a dismissal of Tony as a “caricature of a caricature of himself.” Tony was not just a hard-drinking barfly in a North Beach. He was not a picturesque relic from times long ago. He will be remembered by those who knew and loved him as a complicated, irascible, kind, erudite, dogmatic and passionate human being, a flawed and deeply human character, a man who dedicated his life to the betterment of the world.
Louis Segal, Oakland
Fund better teacher pay
Regarding “Multiple sources would give $119 billion to state education” (Front Page, Jan. 11): Where are teachers salaries in this budget? There was mention of money going to facilities, transportation and career development, but nothing about what we are paying our teachers?
Who do all Americans entrust their children to every day? Teachers. Who is critical in the development of the minds of future voting Americans? Teachers. Yet, in the Bay area and throughout America, they aren’t paid enough to even live where they work. Our healthy state economy, with a pot of leftover funds, is failing our essential teachers.
John Swett, then state superintendent of public instruction, wrote about teachers in 1865: They ought not to be expected to break mental bread to the children of others and feed their own with stones.
It’s time for California to be the state that disrupts the historical pay gap between teachers and other comparably educated professionals. Elizabeth Nordlinger, Sebastopol
Don’t tax virus tests
Regarding “Newsom limits markups for at-home test kits” (Bay Area, Jan. 10): I was happy to read that the governor has issued an order against price gouging on over-the-counter rapid coronavirus test kits.
Now, how about removing the sales tax? It is unconscionable that a sales tax is being charged on this medical product that is critical during this fraught period. Martin Butensky, Alameda