ReaderWire ReaderWire (May 20, 2005)

Avoid distraction

Let's not get distracted by topics that have no real bearing on whether Measure A, a parcel tax for our Palo Alto schools, should pass and the abilities of the PAUSD leaders as good fiscal managers.

Case in point is any discussion of the Voluntary Transfer Program (VTP), previously known as the Tinsley Program. I support this diversity program.

Regardless of anyone's personal opinion of the program, our participation is mandated by a court decision. The program impacts more than six other surrounding districts and is based on the notion that segregation results in unequal education. To suggest that the district turn to the courts to overturn this desegregation order because it would improve our budget picture is misleading.

Such pursuit would be costly.

Further, based on current demographics for Palo Alto and the latest test-score results for the geographic area covered by the Tinsley decision, it is unlikely the courts would provide the kind of decision others suggest is possible.

Let's stay focused on why we need to approve Measure A. We need to replace funding we once received from the state of California that is no longer available to us. Without the passage of Measure A, we will not be able to maintain the quality of the educational experience we have come to expect for all of our children in PAUSD.

Vote yes on Measure A on June 7.
Kelly Calica
E. Meadow Drive, Palo Alto

Staff and salaries

The Palo Alto Unified School District officials would have us believe that they desperately need an increased parcel tax in order to maintain school programs and that there is no possibility of cutting fat from administrative expenses.

What they don't tell you is that the salary of Dr. Mary Frances Callan, the Superintendent of Schools, is twice the average salary of superintendents in California and that her salary, at $220,000 per year, is roughly equivalent to the salaries of the superintendents of San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland and San Diego districts with many times the number of schools and students -- and many more problems.

She is paid $75,000 more than the superintendent of Los Gatos-Saratoga, a district that exceeds Palo Alto in every objective measure of performance, pays its teachers more and does it without a parcel tax.

But that is just the beginning. The cumulative salary of Dr. Callan's staff (assistant, associate and deputy superintendents, coordinators and directors) exceeds $2 million per year. Salaries for those positions range from $140,000 to $200,000.

If the PAUSD was serious about cost reduction, it would cut Dr. Callan's salary in half, reduce the size of her staff by a third and reduce the salary of the remaining staff by a third.

When the community was asked where cuts should be made in district expenses, first on the list of responses was the office of the superintendent. And yet no staff cuts and no salary reductions have been made. And none will be made until the community demands it.

The first step in doing so is to defeat the proposed parcel tax.
David Lieberman
Kingsley Avenue, Palo Alto

'Dining' needs map

The Weekly's "Dining Out 2005" (published April 27) will be a helpful guide to keep on hand. It would be even more helpful if next year the Weekly were to include a Midpeninsula map with marks on the map for the locations of various restaurants, assigning a different number to each one.

Often I want a restaurant in a particular area. Such a map would facilitate my finding one.
Hope Raymond
Roosevelt Circle, Palo Alto

Shameful cartoon

Most people who know me would describe me as someone never at a loss for words. I am also a notorious joker both in the workplace and socially. The Mueller cartoon about adoption and the "rat bastard" in the Weekly's May 4 edition left me gasping, and grasping for words to articulate my outrage.

I come at this from the perspective of an adoptive parent and an adoption attorney who has helped hundreds of people realize their dreams of enlarging their families with adopted children. I have also lectured to attorneys and other professionals about how to do that, as well as counseled thousands of pre-adoptive families and birth parents at dozens of conferences and support groups.

If there is one thing that is sacrosanct in the area of adoption, it is that every effort must be made to help adoptees feel accepted by their new families. That process does not end with the physical arrival of the child in the home. It never ends; nor does the pain of infertility.

The person who authorized the publication of this cartoon in what is essentially a family newspaper needs a reality check. It shows that they are totally oblivious to the hurt that words and images can cause to a reader who might be personally touched by adoption.

Shame on you, whoever you are.
Desmond Tuck, Esq.
Military Way, Palo Alto

Win-win?

The Mayfield deal is a win-win: Stanford got what it wanted to have and Palo Alto got what Stanford wanted it to have.
David Bubenik
Homer Avenue, Palo Alto

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