School choice

Wheelchair access EDITOR: I have read with great interest the articles about the rats near the waterfront off of Water and Western Streets.|

Wheelchair access

EDITOR: I have read with great interest the articles about the rats near the waterfront off of Water and Western Streets. I want make the city aware that the cobbled streets not only make the maneuverability of garbage bins difficult but create some very real access problems for people who use wheelchairs.

The path of travel is extremely bumpy and a real challenge for people who must ride over the stones. Characteristically, this is a case where the environment creates challenges for us, not our disabilities. I would think this should have been thought of before the stones were laid, but if there are changes to me made it’s never too late to get it right.

Stan Kosloski

Petaluma

School choice

EDITOR: Polling proves that Americans want the kind of public schools that anchor our democracy: fully funded community schools where children from all walks of life learn together, learn to appreciate each other and solve problems collaboratively. Americans also demonstrate a preference for democratically elected local school boards governed by our neighbors who listen to us.

California requires public school boards to govern with transparency, to be fiscally responsible, to accept all students from all backgrounds including gifted and top achieving students as well as students with learning disabilities and students growing up in poverty and to provide appropriate curriculum and enrichment for this entire continuum of educational needs.

Contrast these responsibilities with California charter (choice) school policy. While charter schools receive public education dollars, the California Charter School Association (CCSA is funded by an entourage of billionaires) has driven policy (frequently with campaign cash) which exempts independent (and for-profit) charters from oversight of curriculum, finances, student admissions and student due process, and has resulted in a kind of “wild west” with serious corruption scandals emerging weekly.

CCSA driven policy allows for chartering to take place at the county, state and even district-to-district levels, such that the local citizens have no choice but to accept the new charter school authorized outside the district (see “Spending Blind” from In the Public Interest).

Three pieces of California legislation restore accountability and oversight to the charter landscape. AB1360 requires that charter schools provide fair access to all students. Also, AB1360 requires charters to comply with state and federal due process including fair notice and fair hearing.

AB1478 requires charter boards to comply with laws promoting transparency and accountability to parents/public regarding all expenditures of money and prohibits charter board members and their families from financially benefiting from their schools. SB808 requires charter schools be approved only by the local school board of the schools jurisdiction.

You can promote AB1360, AB1478, and SB808 with your friends, family and with your California legislators. Make all California charter schools transparent and accountable.

Marian Killian

Petaluma

Remove trestle blight

EDITOR: When my husband and I moved to Petaluma there was a campaign afoot to save the railroad trestle in Petaluma’s downtown turning basin. It seemed like a good idea and we supported the project. But 19 years later, no visible progress has been made to “Save the Trestle.” In fact, it has become a major eyesore that worsens with the passing of time.

In the Jan. 18 issue of the Argus-Courier we learned that SMART and the City of Petaluma were joining forces to combat the rodent infestation of downtown Petaluma through jointly covering the cost of a year’s pest extermination. In the same article it was suggested that the “…dilapidated train trestle owned by SMART has become a haven for burrowing rats.”

Although it’s challenging, if not impossible, to get rid of a rat infestation, there are certainly many ways to lessen the problem: Extermination (hopefully through the use of rat traps, and not poisons), limiting access to their food sources through garbage control, and preventing their entry into nearby buildings serving as rat homes. Owl boxes could be installed along the river, encouraging a population of natural rat predators. It sounds like the City of Petaluma is looking into many of these measures and making an attempt to prevent a very real public health risk.

Dan St. John, Petaluma’s director of public works and utilities, has indicated that “…we’re trying to attract people downtown…” we can “control the rat problem by having the right management practices and the right facilities.” To that end, what seems to be nearly everyone’s goal, (including the “Save the Trestle” promoters) is to bring residents and tourists to the historic, quaint, and potentially beautiful downtown Petaluma waterfront.

There are some who won’t agree, but I feel that it is time to remove the train trestle. It’s removal would easily improve the waterfront’s beauty, and potentially eliminate a place for harboring rats.

Jan Reddick

Petaluma

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