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Growing encampment
poses threat to renters
Re: “Mayor: Homelessness is biggest crisis” (Page B1, June 2).
The mayor’s State of the City address is another disappointment.
For 15 years, our neighborhood has befriended people living in vehicles. But these homeless have been forced out thanks to a cadre of people in campers who trash the sidewalks, throw human waste onto our apartment complex grounds, store oil cans next to engines, and run generators whose pollution particularly threatens the elderly living on oxygen in a facility next door. Noise and expensive vehicles pulling up at all hours make us feel unsafe, yet calls to 311 and the mayor go unanswered or unaddressed.
We don’t see this mini-encampment down the street near condos or multimillion-dollar homes, but as renters, we’re expected to live with the threat and filth.
Evaluations of each situation must be made and both the legitimately homeless and local community kept safe and clean. And it needs to happen now.
Andria Ventura
San Jose
Expanded SAT seats
needed for seniors
Re: “Canceled Oakland SAT fiasco points to equity concerns across the state” (Page A1, June 4).
Thank you for your article about the SAT cancellation in Oakland. As a parent of an incoming senior, I have been appalled by the lack of seats to take the SAT in California and the inequities in the process, especially for students with fewer financial means or needs for accommodations.
With SAT release dates a secret, I spent hours checking for a chance at a seat within 100 miles of our home. I missed: All August slots in the San Francisco Bay Area (and all of California) were gone in days, before I knew they were even released.
We need more reporting on the extent of the problem to encourage reform. My daughter could only get a seat in Las Vegas to take the test in time for college applications, adding extensive additional cost to the price of a seat.
Hilary Stamper
Half Moon Bay
State misses chance
to improve reading
Re: “California classroom reading goals remain elusive” (Page B3, June 4).
The fate of AB 2222 is a sad example of the dysfunction of our state government.
The ability to read is essential and almost 60% of California third-graders are not reading at grade level. The bill would have established a comprehensive plan focusing on phonics, vocabulary and reading comprehension, a proven method to teach reading. The bill was backed by the NAACP, the California PTA and 50 other interest groups. One main interest group opposed the bill, the CTA, and the bill died in committee.
I’m not sure if we should blame the CTA or the politicians who appear to be controlled by them. In the meantime, another year will pass before the issue is addressed again. With no change, we can expect the same lousy literacy results. What a shame.
David Reynolds
Scotts Valley
Source: www.mercurynews.com