The Cupertino Courier

Letters & Opinions

Speak Out

Story highlights needs of
those living down and out

I want to thank you for the March 29 article "Safety Net." It was great to read about an organization such as Cupertino Community Services.

Like Gary Bouchard who has received their services, I too am receiving similar services from The Emergency Housing Consortium. My daughters and I are living in a transitional housing program at Sobrato Family Living Center in Santa Clara.

Three years ago I was laid off from my job, where I had worked for 13 years. I was unemployed for close to a year; my severance package ran out; my savings ran out, and I was close to the end of my unemployment. My daughters and I had to share a room at a family member's house because I was broke and unemployed.

I finally found a job, but didn't make anywhere near what I was making before. But being a single mom with no other means of support, I couldn't be picky about a job. But even working a full-time job, I still didn't make enough to afford a place to live. Plus the bills piled up from when I was unemployed and the creditors were on my back. I found out about the Sobrato Family Living Center by doing a web search and got my name on the waiting list. My daughters and I have been there since August 2005 and we are loving it.

I am grateful there are places such as Cupertino Community Services and Emergency Housing Consortium where families like mine can find an affordable, safe place to live and raise our children. It's very important that every community have housing programs like CCS and EHC. There are a lot of people like me that work a full-time job but yet cannot afford housing and we are forced to live on the streets, sleep in our car or bounce from shelter to shelter simply because the cost of rents are too high.

April Corrigan

Santa Clara

DeCinzo needs to try
getting his facts right

The cartoon that DeCinzo drew in the April 12 edition of the Cupertino Courier is so far from the truth that I believe the credibility of your whole newspaper is at stake.

DeCinzo is clearly biased and is using this platform to further his biases. He should just come out and say that he is in favor of the referendum instead of lying and slandering the opponents of the referendum.

I was at the library on that Saturday. There were two college students handing out anti-referendum fliers, and two supervisors (one attorney [60-plus years old] and one real estate broker) making sure the students would not get into confrontations with the referendum supporters.

These four were the "goons" attempted to be pictured in the cartoon. Also, as opposed to the meek people sitting at the table surrounded by the thugs, the referendum supporters were aggressive signature gatherers walking all around the entrance to the library and soliciting everyone they saw.

If DeCinzo talked to any witnesses to these events, he would have found out that the supporters of the referendum were the one who tried to instigate violence. One person crumpled up a flier he received and threw it at the college student's head.

Then he went over, stood right next to the student, and berated him for handing out the fliers.

If DeCinzo wanted to be truthful, the cartoon would show the supporters and non-supporters of the referendum in opposite positions.

As the new editor, I think you should take additional steps to make sure that your staff tries to be as objective as possible and leave the editorials to the opinions section of the newspaper and not in the news portions.

Knowing the facts of what happened on that Saturday, I would fire DeCinzo for doing such a disservice to the community by lying.

Eric Wong

Cupertino

More is needed than just
increasing teacher's pay

I agree with several points in Joseph DiSalvo's article about teachers in the April 19 issue of The Sun, but I believe one major point was not addressed.

I have been advocating for years that we allow those teachers who have done well in math and/or science, and feel comfortable with those subjects, to teach students these disciplines in the primary grades. The same could be done for English and other subjects.

We have been doing this for years when it comes to teaching art and music. Why not allow teachers to teach in the areas of their strength?

While increasing salaries may help the situation, it is not the answer to increasing student success. Most people have strengths and weaknesses, yet our primary credentials require teachers to teach a wide range of subjects.

I have been teaching math at the community college level for 38 years, as well as having been very active in all aspects of education outside the classroom. After almost four decades in the educational environment, it is apparent the current requirements for a primary credential allow many teachers to get by with little knowledge of math and science.

Increasing salaries or increasing the requirements for the teaching credential will not fix the problem. However, allowing teachers to teach to their strengths will go a long way toward solving our current problems.

Ed Lodi

Campbell