Seventh-graders have been taking Algebra I for many years
Dear Editor,
I am responding to Ms. Julia Hover-Smoot's quote in the article printed in the Aug. 19 Times regarding the Algebra scores.
She was quoted that "In 2006 ... no seventh-graders took the course."
That information is incorrect. Seventh-graders have been taking algebra I in this school district for all of the 11 years that I have worked here, and I am sure before that. The reason that no scores were reported was due to the fact that the state did not offer them an Algebra I test to take.
The seventh-graders in Algebra I had no choice but to take the seventh-grade general math test.
I feel that it is important for Ms. Hover-Smoot, as board president, to know the facts on this matter as well as the rest of the community.
It is my belief that our students will have a better opportunity to perform in an Algebra class if they are prepared to take Algebra in the first place.
That does not happen by simply placing them into the Algebra class.
Zann Yates, Morgan Hill
Settling teachers' contract is a Herculean task
Dear Editor,
I would like to respond to your Aug. 15 article, "Teachers to start without contract," in which you state that for the first time since 1976, Morgan Hill Unified School District is starting the school year without at least being in negotiations for the new contract.
In the interests of full disclosure and for the benefit of all our district parents and employees, it is important to know all the pertinent facts. In fact, two meetings were held in the spring to set negotiating dates and nine meeting dates were offered by the district at that time. The Morgan Hill Federation of Teachers responded with eight completely different dates that they preferred. All meetings are three hours long, so that is currently a total of 17 proposed dates, with a possible 51 "at the table" negotiating hours. Each of those meetings in turn requires hours of preparation by the negotiating team. The district's negotiating team consists of seven people, four of them principals - you can imagine how complicated that can get at the beginning of the year, when principals are consumed with getting their schools off to a good start.
As your article stated, we have cut $3 million out of our budget this year, due to the slow down in our national and state economy. Three administrators were laid off at the district office. Everyone at the district office is picking up the work of the laid-off administrators, and preparation time is tight. In addition, most administrators are enjoying their well-deserved holiday during the summer months, and it is not easy to pull the teams together.
The Morgan Hill Federation of Teachers "sunshined" its contract proposals on April 8 and our public hearing on them was held on April 22. That left only about six weeks before the end of school to agree upon and set all those 17 proposed dates - a Herculean task.
In these tight budget times, Morgan Hill Unified is dedicated not only to improving working conditions but really improving working relationships as well. We honor our teachers in spirit and in fact. We have a wonderful wealth of talent and brain-power and heart in our valued employees. We would never knowingly do anything to injure our relationship. It is better to get the contract "right" than just get it "done".
Julia Hover-Smoot, MHUSD Board President
Against lowering the drinking age
Dear Editor,
In response to the renewed debate over underage drinking, SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) reemphasizes its stance in opposition to lowering the drinking age.
SADD believes that lowering the current minimum-age drinking laws would likely do little, if anything, to reduce problematic drinking behaviors on college campuses and would contribute to the downward age trending of initiation into alcohol use by legally moving it into the high school community. According to SADD's Teens Today research, students in grades 6-12 ranked the drinking age as the number one reason why they choose not to use alcohol.
According to The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking, alcohol use by young people is a leading contributor to death from injuries, plays a significant role in risky sexual behavior, increases the risk of assault, and is associated with academic failure and illicit drug use. Specifically, this report highlights that:
n An estimated 1,700 college students die each year from alcohol-related injuries;
n Approximately 600,000 students are injured while under the influence of alcohol;
n Some 700,000 students are assaulted by other students who have been drinking; and
n About 100,000 students are victims of alcohol-related sexual assaults or date rapes.
n In addition, impaired driving crashes kill thousands of young people each year and injure many more.
As the nation's preeminent peer-to-peer youth education, prevention, and activism organization, SADD provides students with the tools and resources they need to make healthy choices and help their friends and peers to do the same. SADD students abide by a "No Use" policy, in which they do not support or condone the use of alcohol by underage young people.
For more information about SADD, visit sadd.org. For additional facts and details about this issue, visit why21.org.
Stephen Wallace, chairman and CEO of Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD)
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