Ten years ago, the idea that excellent teachers might be paid bonuses was considered scandalous. Now, it’s a national imperative. Thanks to President Obama’s support of Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, some $4.3 billion is being spent for an education “stimulus,” with another $1.35 billion... Continue
Editorials
Haiti is in the news as the site of the latest big natural disaster. Hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost, and the devastation to that half-island nation’s infrastructure compounds the suffering. There have been disasters in other parts of the world, too, and... Continue
As we get older, somehow we’re more able to see life happening to other people. Knowing our own individual troubles, we can only imagine the difficulties others go through. Three such situations hit us in the Valley this week. Carl Gerlach is resigning from his... Continue
That’s what the Democratic Congressional committee chairs used to say about legislation the Bush administration submitted, and that was the message from the local chapter of the teachers union to the school board at its special meeting Tuesday night. At issue was the money the... Continue
We don’t often give over our space to guest editorials, but this message from a government official is a timely call for public imput on important decisions. Are all school ‘stakeholders’ equal? A school district’s #1 mission is a simple one: educate the kids. When... Continue
We’ve been looking forward to this long weekend, thanks to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day both falling on weekdays this year. Say, why not have Christmas on workdays every year? The feds moved Abe’s and George’s birthdays (does that make them twins?), so why not... Continue
We felt like kids sitting on Santa’s lap at the parent meeting Monday evening at the high school, with a former superintendent from another district unwittingly playing the role of Santa. She asked us what we wanted in a new principal at Sonoma Valley High... Continue
The story is told of two friends, one of whom says, “I’d like to ask God why he allows poverty, hunger and injustice when he could do something about it.” To which the other responds, “Me, too, but I’m afraid God might ask me the same... Continue
Thank you, readers. Many of you will recall The Mamas and The Papas song from the ‘60s. They were singing about Mondays, of course, but their phrasing came to mind as we processed your lovely comments about getting last week’s Sun on Thursday, instead of... Continue
We remember today our (virtual) ancestors, who just a dozen generations ago fled religious persecution in Europe. The Mayflower’s human cargo risked their lives, literally, to seek new hope in a new world. They longed for a life of freedom but found a life of... Continue