Letters: Obama tells the terrorists when we’re leaving

Dear Editor
In his address to the nation last week, President Obama
announced that 30,000 additional troops will be sent to
Afghanistan. This is less than the 40,000 requested by General
McCrystal, the local commander on the ground.
 
Obama tells terrorists when we’re leaving

Dear Editor

In his address to the nation last week, President Obama announced that 30,000 additional troops will be sent to Afghanistan. This is less than the 40,000 requested by General McCrystal, the local commander on the ground. 

Then President Obama announced that we will start withdrawing in 18 months. Incredible!!! The bad guys can lay low for two years or so and we will be gone.  Then they can return to their dastardly deeds.

I submit that if we are to surrender within a stated time, the time should be NOW. There is nothing to gain and a lot to lose. Every casualty would be in vain and a direct result of President Obama’s ill-advised decision.

If we are to surrender, do it now and bring the troops home. Bring them home from Bosnia also. President Clinton said they would be home for Christmas.  What year was that? 1996? They are still there. 

Marvin L. Jones, Hollister

Is this what we want for our students?

Dear Editor

As the Hollister School District (HSD) and Hollister Elementary School Teachers Association (HESTA) negotiate over salaries, benefits and conditions teachers may have to accept pay cuts, benefit cuts and staff cuts.  Think about overcrowded classrooms with reduced resources and staff to assist them. 

Schools are under increasing pressures to help students achieve higher test scores, teachers are forced to use scripted lesson plans and meet rigid timelines so students will be prepared for testing. Many schools are using business models for creating efficient environments, as if students were factory products and not human beings. Is this what we want for Hollister students? The ability of teachers to meet students’ individual needs will be further reduced if students are stuffed into overcrowded classrooms. The question we should be asking is: can cuts be made in areas that do not directly affect teaching and learning?

Any parents who want their children to receive a quality education (where children learn to become critical thinkers and problem solvers) and want all ethnic groups to be given equal treatment, must become involved in the policy-making process of education.  This means attending school board meetings to express their opinions.  Teachers and school staff can only successfully help children learn with sufficient support. 

Joe Navarro, first-grade teacher