Rose Garden Resident

Letters & Opinions

Speak Out

Residents say Oliverio has compassion

We care about who becomes our next councilman. We have lived in District 6 for more than 30 years and been active in the community. Our children attended local schools.

We are supporting Pierluigi Oliverio because he is the only candidate who has shown maturity, compassion and the energy it takes to run a positive campaign addressing the issues and needs of our neighborhoods and city.

Paul and Salese Kanter
Bob and Claudia Parker

San Jose

No incentive can
mean no interest

I disagree with Joseph DiSalvo's column, and the whole concept of throwing more money at the school system to compel the slow and/or not-so-bright students to rise to the level that is considered acceptable ("No Child Left Behind hasn't exactly hit the bull's-eye," Feb. 16). It simply doesn't work. If a child doesn't want to learn, you can't cram the knowledge into his brain. ("There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.")

I think what is needed is in some way to stimulate the desire to learn. The bright student has an all-consuming curiosity and wants to know how things work, and why they work. He wants to learn, but there has to be an incentive. You load a child up with computers and other gadgets, but that doesn't stimulate the desire to learn.

Too many children nowadays have everything handed to them and do not have to earn the money to buy what they want. Either that or they have nothing and envy those who have everything. These children view getting an education as too much work, and it's easier to take what they want from those who have everything.

So, what I'm saying is that you can't force anyone to learn. You have to create an incentive to learn. The rich man's child doesn't have the incentive simply because he has always been given whatever he wants. Regardless of the affluence of the parents, children need to be taught that they need to work and earn the money to buy what they want.

Ben Johnson

San Jose