Dear Editor,
As a teacher and parent in this community, I am saddened when I feel the need to question the placement of my 4-year-old daughter in a public school next year. While it is true that the current state administration has done no favors to the state of education in California, I also feel that the lack of care, economic foresight or loyalty shown by some members of the Hollister School District and the Hollister School Board of Trustees does not help this grave situation.
These bodies, in which parents, teachers, and the community put a great deal of trust, have not been living up to their end of the bargain. An organization which pledges to “help all children to achieve their potential,” as the HSD Web site says, simply should not choose to pay our class overloaded stipends and irresponsibly raise class size to save money on classroom staffing and health care. This is not what you tax dollars pay for, what your wishes for the future are or what your vote is cast for.
Friedrich Niezstche once said “that which poisons the weaker nature strengthens the stronger; because he does not call it poison.” To this end, I can attest to the fact that teachers in this district are working to ameliorate this difficult situation to the best of their professional abilities and talents. Still, I feel the need to urge the community to speak up for their children at Hollister School District board meetings, in the columns of your newspapers, and at the voting booths in November. None of us want to have children, who mean so much to us, count only as a paper statistic to our educational leaders.
Jason Hagins, Hollister
