Spare the rod, spoil the child
According to Sue Chisam (Feb. 14), Konocti Unified School (KUSD) District Superintendent Dr. Nan, may fire Oak Hill principal, Mrs. Friedrich. Ms. Chisam wants you to help save the principal”s job. Her cry for help is touching but misguided. She”d do better to cry for the kids who attend Oak Hill Middle School. Their test scores are bottom-of-the-barrel low.
Superintendent Nan is right to be alarmed at the Oak Hill fiasco. She should fire somebody. Ms. Friedrich, however, is only part of the problem. The entire school board and superintendent herself must share the blame. Unfortunately, teachers like Sue want to preserve the status quo. Nobody will say it but they”re all participating in the nastiest kind of child abuse.
Sue would do better to let people know about KUSD”s real problems. Kids are getting everything they want but discipline. Some don”t bring homework to class. Others don”t raise their hands when they want to say something. Classrooms don”t get quiet when the bell rings. Instead of preparing kids for college, KUSD is turning out far too many career criminals for the state prison system.
The blind are leading the blind at KUSD. Everyone has fallen into a great big ditch. Board members have listened too long to the jabber-wocky of Darwinian psychologists. They don”t spank unruly kids. Foolishly, they “reason” with them. When that doesn”t work, they suspend them and eventually expel. Like ham-fisted cowboys who shoot themselves in the foot, KUSD leaders punish kids by preventing them from learning. Some punishment! Wiser men follow traditional advice, “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; The rod of correction will drive it far from him.” Suspensions and expulsions are cruel ways to treat children who desperately need learning.
Darrell Watkins
Kelseyville
Community radio promotes local, informed citizenship
Democracy can”t work without informed citizens. The founders believed, according to former Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black ”that the widest possible dissemination of information from diverse and antagonistic sources is essential to the well being of the public.”
In the end, the burden lies with each of us as citizens,”” says former Indiana Congressman, Lee Hamilton, who served as vice chairman of the 9/11 Commission and is on the president”s Homeland Security Advisory Council. ”A democratic society depends on its citizens separating the wheat from the chaff, forming good judgments, and putting pressure on their representatives to act accordingly. If ordinary people can”t do this or don”t want to devote the time and energy, the country suffers. No matter how good our leadership, if we don”t have discriminating citizens, this nation will not work very well.””
The citizens in Lake County who have devoted countless hours to implementing and successfully running a community radio station are fulfilling that directive.
They are exemplars of good citizenship, a model for all of us to look to for guidance.
Lake County citizens have benefited, from the efforts of these few, by becoming more informed on every aspect of local public life
Voices across the political, social, educational and cultural spectrum are part of the daily programming offered by KPFZ.
We urge our County elected officials to support and to endorse the invaluable work that Congressman Thompson devoted to securing the lion”s share of the funding for Lake County”s community radio station.
Our Board of Supervisors can fulfill their pledge to work for the good of all of Lake County”s citizens and be responsive to Lake County by approving the request for funds that the KPFZ staff has requested.
This one-time grant will allow them to continue and widen their work, furthering the public good for all of Lake County.
These tireless volunteers believe that the foundation of a healthy democracy is an informed, engaged citizenry.
Wanda Harris, chair
Lake County Democratic Central Committee
Editor”s Note: The Lake County Board of Supervisors voted on Tuesday, Feb. 13, to commit $30,000 toward matching funds for a federal grant to finance KPFZ.
There are rats at City Hall
The City of Clearlake has lost its finest police officer, Tim Fassler. He found truths about our law enforcement and was finally pressured to resign by the king rat and his lackeys, old and new within departments at City Hall and the cops” station house.
It”s a funny thing … truth. And those who try to right a wrong are shunned and reviled by many in their community. “Don”t make waves” is the mantra here, probably because we reside in a cesspool and admitting that is worse than difficult.
Fassler is one of the most courageous people I have ever met. His absence will be noticed by criminals and criminals in police clothing.
Oh yes … king rat and fellow rats, they”re gone and good riddance! There are still a couple of rat lackeys at CPD … they”ve probably even went up a notch or two. You know who you are, backstabbers … at CPD and one on the city council.
Sorry to tell you sorry creeps, we will continue to bring you to justice; people are meeting and the crowd gets larger and louder. As for the FBI … Welcome to Clearlake!
Linda Conway
Clearlake
Don”t forget to write!
The Clear Lake Observer*American welcomes letters responding to articles and opinions that have appeared in this newspaper, as well as on topics of general interest. Letters can be sent to news@clearlakeobserver.com or mailed to PO Box 6200, Clearlake, CA 95422.
