The San Jose Unified School district is planning on closing schools not on the basis of curriculum, high test scores, parent involvement or even the amount of violence at the school. The basis of closure is which one will make money if the building closed and how many students they pack into a school like sardines.

Parents are not allowed to ask questions out loud at any meetings. Instead, we have to write all questions on a piece of paper and they decide if the board wants to answer them or not. Board members have even gone through our questions without reading them out loud, saying "not possible" and throwing the question away without explaining a thing. Board members will have a closed meeting when they decide which schools to close so they won't have to face angry parents at that moment.

Randol Elementary scored fifth highest on testing in the district and is a blue ribbon school, but that does not keep it from being on the top 10 list to be shut down.

Randol has already taken a big hit in funding this last year.

Randol is a small school of around 450 students, but that has not stopped it from having one of the best elementary science programs in the state. In kindergarten, these kids learn about ultraviolet light and the scientific names of birds, mammals and reptiles. My kids would come home from school talking about things that I didn't know about.

Starting this year there, though, there was no money to fund the science program.

The district is also are making classes bigger so they don't have to pay so many teachers. This year's third-grade class has a 30-to-1 ratio and next year they are talking about making first and second grades 30-to-1. This makes it nearly impossible for the kids to learn. The teachers are having a hard time teaching when they have that many students.

It is unacceptable to hurt the education of our children. I can't understand how the school district can spend so much on the superintendent, the superintendent's secretaries, and all of the other people at manager level. This budget cut does not seem to affect their paychecks one bit.

It seems the board has decided already what schools to close. They are only having these meetings so they won't get sued.

Last Friday some teachers at Randol handed out a flyer about the school closure meeting. This is the first that my children (kindergarten, second, and third grade) had heard about it. You would not believe how upset they were that their school might close. The first thing they said to me was, "Mom, don't let them close our school." The only thing I can do is write the media, write the school district, get petitions going, attend meetings, and hope someone listens.

—Jeannette Clarke, Almaden Lake Drive


Real heroes don't announce 'I am a hero'

I honestly mean no disrespect by what I'm about to write; however, it is really what I believe.

Mr. Heintze is very humble in believing that he does not deserve to be honored as a hero, and I respect and admire him for his honest feelings ("Does the uniform make veterans heroes?" Nov. 20).

However, I cannot make out his intentions, dissatisfaction, frustration, gripe or whatever it was. At the end of his "opinion," I caught a glimpse of "pride" or "obligation" to serve our country, but I'm honestly not sure if that's what he had in mind.

I served in the U.S. Army from 1972 to 1975, most of which I spent in West Germany. While I was a Battalion S1 Admin Specialist, I did not believe nor feel that I was a hero. It was at the tail end of the Vietnam War; and honestly I am thankful that I did not have to go to Vietnam.

Ten years after ending my active-duty service, I joined the Army Reserves—a unit in Mountain View—and spent more than 10 years doing "non-heroic" tasks and duties, but I was proud to wear the uniform one weekend a month, and two weeks a year, and do whatever I was designated to do.

Throughout my whole Army (active and reserve) service, I felt and believed in my obligation and strong sense of pride, even in the little things I did. Throughout more than 13 years, I reported to, worked with, helped and was helped by heroes—heroes who'd been in Vietnam, in Korea and a few from Desert Storm.

I don't know how many heroes I've met as opposed to regular service members who were clerks, cooks, tailors, motor-pool mechanics, gate guards, etc; but I know that most heroes do not walk around with a banner on their forehead reading "I'm a Hero!"

Maybe the biggest reason for my pride in serving my country comes from my great admiration for the greatest country in the world—the U.S.A. This admiration comes from this blessed and proud naturalized American. I was born to an Assyrian Christian family rooted in what was once known as the cradle of civilization and the great Assyrian Empire. I was born to leave my birthplace, and the birthplace of my ancestors for thousands of years, and come to the greatest country in the world and establish new and long-lasting roots for my family.

Let us honor our veterans as heroes, even those who may have not performed a heroic act.

—Esha Tamras, Almaden Valley


DeCinzo's soccer cartoon hits its goal

Kudos to cartoonist DeCinzo and the Almaden Resident for his Nov. 3 cartoon, "Another Mauling in Almaden."

Although newest to the scene, yours is the first media outlet to grasp the fundamental truth—that the AYA Sports Complex is not intended as a venue for sporting activities for the children of Almaden, but rather for its promoters to stage tournaments for their personal gratification and for profit.

Once again the Almaden Times and the Mercury News convincingly prove that being FIRST on the scene or being BIGGER does not equate to being BETTER!

—George & Anna Stepanenko, McKean Road

A quote in the Nov. 20 cover story "Should they build it?" inadvertently left out the words "acres of." The quote, by Nancy LaScola, president of the South Almaden Valley Rural Alliance, should have read: "Almaden has over 150 acres of parks. Why does everything have to be at one park? If you start splitting it up, it's not high impact on anyone."

A photo caption with a Nov. 20 schools article about Project Cornerstone's leadership conference, "Students take the 'leadership challenge' to make schools more caring places to be," misidentified Linda Sylvius, an educational consultant.