Letters: Betty Yee is our best choice to run the state

Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.

Yee is best choice to run the state

Re: “Sparks fly at initial debate” (Page A1, Feb. 5).

California doesn’t need a governor who “wins” a two-hour TV show. We need a leader who can fix the budget, steady our economy and make government actually work.

I was at the debate. Six men thought the job description includes mansplaining, not being the best-prepared steward of a $300 billion budget. The men on stage were eager to interrupt, lecture and score points.

Meanwhile, only one candidate has already managed the state’s books, uncovered waste and abuse, and protected pensions for millions of Californians: former Controller Betty Yee. She didn’t mug for the cameras. She did what women leaders so often do: Show up prepared, focus on solutions and let the work speak for itself.

If we are serious about solving California’s problems on Day One, it’s time to look past the male theatrics and choose the adult in the room: Betty Yee.

Dan CohenOakland

Teaching, curriculum can help turn scores around

Re: “California schools’ low scores reflect far more than teaching” (Page A6, Feb. 5).

Jill Stegman clearly highlights real challenges facing California’s public school populations. But by insisting that test scores won’t rise until societal issues are fixed, she does a disservice to students.

Some schools are beating the odds with the populations they serve. Some districts are shrinking achievement gaps. The data is out there. Curriculum and teaching does matter. In the case of literacy, adopting evidence-based approaches can lead to gains even for students facing multiple challenges in the Central Valley. For math, centering practice around examining student data, research-based teaching, and early intervention has boosted performance in districts with high levels of poverty and multilingual learners.

The systemic issue is that these wins are scattered. California is still struggling to deploy evidence-based instruction and intervention at scale. Until that is in place, simply blaming society and implying there is little schools can do ignores the clear steps that districts can take now.

Katie ChinFremont

Emotional intelligence can help curb violence

California is in the crosshairs of Donald Trump’s politics. As America spins in political and policy turmoil, California must stand up.

Initiate Justice has created an innovative program at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga. The Initiate Justice Bill Clinic is teaching policy to incarcerated residents. The clinic is writing three pieces of proposed legislation. The bills are directed toward criminal justice, rehabilitation models and implementation of social-emotional learning in California schools.

The social-emotional learning bill is tentatively titled the Shaw-Scott Act. The legislation is dedicated in part to Otis Scott III of Oakland, who at 19 lost his life at the hands of a friend in 1995. One of the bill’s authors was convicted of the crime and wants to show the importance of emotional intelligence in our schools. Social-emotional learning in our schools will help reduce violence.

John CrosthwaitePleasant Valley PrisonCoalinga

Oversight is critical to a strong democracy

Re: “Resignations jolt oversight panel” (Page B1, Feb. 4).

Oversight is more essential today than ever. Without its transparency and accountability, constitutional human liberty is overrun by tyranny. Such tyranny tops our daily news documenting excessive force by masked, unidentified swarms who break down doors and smash car windows, detaining, teargassing, shooting and even killing residents.

Too often fatally, those firing bullets or “less lethals” — steel balls, wooden blocks, pepper-balls or blinding/deafening flashbangs in multi-munition grenades — act with impunity.

Police oversight restrains impunity. Decades ago, Berkeley established the first Police Review Commission, strengthened by 2020 voters to a Police Accountability Board, for civilian review of police misconduct and transparency and accountability standards.

The article gives a needed wake-up call. In-depth investigation and reporting are essential to expose transparency erosions. Call on the Berkeley City Council to recommit to the accountability necessary to preserve the 250-year-old balance Americans call democracy.

Wendy AlfsenBerkeley

Stop the bleeding Trump is inflicting

Re: “Danger ahead: The coming Trump crackup” (Page A9, Jan. 25).

Thank you, David Brooks, for telling us why We the People must urge the removal of Donald Trump from the presidency. In addition to Brook’s analysis, the facts are compelling.

Trump is a convicted felon and the leader of an attempt to overthrow our government, making him a traitor. He is an uninhibited liar and promises retribution against his perceived enemies. He is destroying our long-standing relationship with our allies, including our closest ally, Canada, and crippling our health system. He is pushing the Supreme Court and Republican Congress to support unconstitutional and law-breaking acts. He is menacing blue cities and states with the equivalent of a Gestapo-like atmosphere for immigrants, citizens or not. He has threatened Greenland and overthrown the leadership in Venezuela. He has attacked our higher-education system.

I believe Trump gets up every morning and thinks, ”Who can I hurt today?” You’ve hurt us enough. Out.

Joan FieldDanville