The simplest of wishes at Christmas...

The simplest of wishes at Christmas time

I read this morning in the Daily Pilot that you are asking people

for their Christmas wishes. Our first baby, Graham David Clark, is

due Christmas Day, so we are wishing for a healthy baby boy!

STEVE AND KELLY CLARK

Newport Beach

Lindbergh School is in need of help from the district

This is an open letter to Supt. Robert Barbot of the Newport-Mesa

Unified School District.

The city of Costa Mesa has responded positively to the

neighborhood request to upgrade the grounds of Lindbergh Park and

adjoining reservoir area (it looks great).

It is time for the school district to address the deplorable

conditions at the Lindbergh School site.

1. The weeds are growing much larger than the so-called

landscaping around the buildings.

Solution: Return the site to a much-needed local neighborhood

school, which stimulates neighborhood/teacher/pupil/parent

school-site pride.

2. The parkways’ so-called “lawn areas” on 23rd Street and Orange

Avenue are pathetic because they have become a dumping ground for

dogs.

Solution: same.

3. The paint is chipping off these historic buildings and graffiti

is beginning to appear on the back sides.

Solution: same.

4. The cleaning runoff from the on-site storage of animals,

reptiles, etc., flows into the Lindbergh Park area.

Solution: same.

5. There is an average of 60 cars at the school site parking lot

every day. What do all these people do all day, paid for by our tax

money?

Solution: same.

I could go on with other examples regarding the decay of this

historic site, but you get the picture.

DON KNIPP

Costa Mesa

Teachers’ union has much more power than it should

Regarding the Daily Pilot article “Teachers’ union flexes

political muscle” and the question whether the Newport-Mesa Teachers’

Union has too much power(Dec. 16), I can unequivocally answer, “Yes,

they do.” They abuse that power, too, not just in this district, but

in every district in Orange County and the vast majority of districts

in all of California.

The liberal teachers’ union, not to be confused with teachers, is

one of the most powerful in the world. They extract money from

teachers’ paychecks, which amounts to an overwhelming amount, and use

that power to manipulate the system to their advantage.

They influence teachers and school board members to buy into their

agenda in whatever way necessary. Heaven help the poor person who

dares to questions their procedures, ideology, motives, and/or

agenda.

If that person is a parent, they are first appeased with

well-planned platitudes. However, if that parent persists in

questioning school books, social programs, etc., they are then

labeled and targeted as a troublemaker.

If the union inadvertently allows a conservative, like Leece, to

slip through and actually be elected to a school board position, they

are systematically eliminated, especially if that person is gaining

an audience with her/her opposing viewpoints.

The Daily Pilot allowed Leece a forum to present her opinions on

school-related issues. Therefore, she was a clear and present danger

to them. Not that Leece could make a particular difference on the

Newport-Mesa board. She was one lone vote. No, the danger was that

people were digesting her dissenting views because she carefully

backed them up. Having been elected twice before, Leece had become

difficult to unseat. Therefore, an all-out, no holds barred campaign

against her was launched.

For the most part, in spite of all their rhetoric to the contrary,

the teachers’ union people care more for themselves than they do our

children.

Just ask yourself a question as proof: Are our schools and

students better than a few decades ago, when school boards had

conservatives as a majority?

ERICA WRIGHT

Costa Mesa