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LETTERS to the EDITOR


Take a deep breath


Dear Editor: Deborah Pauly, with a note of


panic usually reserved for giant asteroid impacts, flaps her wings and blares her latest Chicken Little alert in the August Sen- try of the nearly dollar-a-gallon “secret” gas tax looming come January that will finally and for- ever destroy California. OH… DEAR… GOD!! But it’s largely frothed-up balderdash. And it can’t go unanswered. Not that the price of fuel won’t


be increasing a bit, let’s be clear. But Pauly’s screed leaves one with a clear impression of an ini- tial increase of 76 cents a gallon or more. Based on the current cap-and-trade CO2 allowance and fuel’s carbon content, the initial jump is widely calculated to come in around 10 to 15 cents per gallon. “You read that right.” A 2-3 percent increase, one most drivers won’t even notice because it’s swamped by typical market price swings. But true: there will be an in-


crease starting in 2015. And it likely will increase gradually in coming years. Which is exactly the point. Notably absent from Pauly’s impassioned cry for relief from this Impending Doom is the rationale for the policy: air pollu- tion and climate change. Cap-and-trade nudges energy


in a market-efficient way toward the development of novel and less damaging forms, while creating new technologies and new jobs. This is already happening. With- out carbon taxation today, we know staggering costs and sub- stantial misery get multiplied into our future. Transport fuels repre- sent nearly half of greenhouse gas emissions, and there already are developed and effective lower- carbon alternatives like CNG and electric. If Pauly feels the need to be


truly frightened, she only needs to thumb through the deeply so- bering “Key Risks” section in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report, instead of parroting the chorus of loud- mouth talk radio hosts, Fox News ignoramuses, trembling politi- cians, and oil industry spin doc- tors. As a bonus, she’d be getting information from a whole cadre of people who, well, actually


know something. Facing this truth is hard. We


aren’t going to get out of this mess for free, nor with procrasti- nation and wishful thinking. And regardless, ultimately this is going to take and cost far more than just California and just AB32. But it’s at least a start. And leadership.


Steve Duff Silverado


Drink up


Dear Editor: I am very happy to hear that the Foothills Sentry and Serrano Wa- ter District are concerned about the drought and water situation in So. Cal. I do regret that some of the statements on water use are quite wrong or misspoken. Twen- ty to forty percent use for human consumption and 70-80 percent for landscaping can add up to over 100 percent (40 + 70 = 110). Secondly I don’t think humans consume 20-40 percent of the wa- ter used. My bill for October/No- vember is 40 units. That comes out to about 124 gallons per day. If my family of four consumes 20 percent, we are drinking six gal- lons each, at 40 percent that is 12 gallons each. And this is in the fall/winter. The amount of water we drink is closer to three quar- ters of a gallon per day. I think the proper term would have been “household consumption” not “human consumption.”


Edgar Portales Orange


Make way for Measure K


Dear Editor: 1953… Orange High School


was built and at that time there were 53 kilobytes of high-speed random access memory on planet earth.


1964…Villa Park High School


was built and that year zip codes began to be used throughout the country.


1966…El Modena High School


was built and during that year, IBM developed the first floppy disk.


1973…Canyon High School


was built and that year the first hand-held mobile phone was made. This information reminds us


Foothills Sentry


of the extraordinarily rapid prog- ress our world has made techno- logically, and otherwise, over the past 60-plus years. However, our four high schools do not re- flect this progress. While nearly every other school district in Or- ange County has invested in local school bonds, OUSD has never done so. Further decline in our high school facilities is inevitable without a school bond. I am writing to support Mea-


sure K, the high school facilities bond measure before OUSD vot- ers this fall. A “yes” vote enables repairing, restoring and modern- izing Orange Unified’s four high schools. I bring to the table almost 45


years of experience as an educa- tor. Common sense tells us that the quality of our facilities is related to the overall quality of student achievement. But being a researcher by trade, I’m not al- lowing common sense to be my only guide. Thus, I cite the fol- lowing: Cynthia Uline, a highly published researcher at San Diego State University’s Department of Educational Leadership wrote: “There is a growing body of lit- erature that provides evidence to a link between school building adequacy and student achieve- ment.” She cites a Washington, D.C. study that reported, “The physical state of a school is a pre- dictor of student achievement.” Good lighting, proper air circu- lation, consistent temperature control, noise-proofing, and er- gonomically correct seating help improve concentration and en- hance children’s ability to learn. Fresh, modern, functioning facili- ties give kids pride in their school and in their community. A reminder to all of us: It takes


a village to raise a child. And we are a crucial part of that village. And yes, it takes money. Vote “yes” on Measure K this Novem- ber.


Jim Cox, Ph.D. Anaheim Hills


Dear Editor: Thank you to our County Super- visor Todd Spitzer for stepping forward to support Measure K. Thank you for recognizing that


repairs to our local high schools are long overdue and that Mea- sure K will make these critical improvements so our students have access to safe and modern classrooms. Thank you for recognizing that Measure K is a fiscally respon- sible proposal with strict account- ability protections that meet the Orange County Taxpayers Asso- ciation criteria.


Thank you for recognizing that


our local dollars stay local and improve our own schools and communities. Thank you for seeing that qual-


ity schools will make our homes more desirable for families, which enhances our property values. Most of all, thank you for put-


ting our community before poli- tics.


Dina Harris Villa Park


Dear Editor: I would like to take this oppor-


tunity to clarify some misinfor- mation circulating about the on- going OUSD High School Facil- ity Master Plan/Measure K Bond process. Each of our four comprehen-


sive high school communities – Canyon, El Modena, Orange and Villa Park – worked with an ar- chitectural firm hired to develop a conceptual Master Plan detailing the ideal 21st century teaching and learning facility specific to their school’s individual culture and vision. Various committees and groups, comprised of parents, students, staff and community members, collaborated to provide invaluable input to the architects, and the resulting designs were impressive. Plans included not only new and updated education- al facilities, but expanded aquatic centers and renovated gyms, caf- eterias, libraries and spaces dedi- cated to student services. The re- sulting Master Plans are visioning documents that take into account the interests of each school com- munity. Our Board of Education re-


ceived the community-developed Master Plans at board meetings held on each of the high school campuses this past spring. Com- munity support was immense, and the numerous speakers at each meeting were largely impressed with the visions presented. Some comments, however, included concerns about the overall cost of implementing such grand plans as well as the phasing of projects. Subsequently, the board polled


voters to see if there was signifi- cant support for modernizing the high schools and at what level (if


Tuesday, September 9, 2014


any) they would be willing to tax themselves. Polling results indicated that a majority of voters were in favor of modernizing our high schools and that they would be willing to pay a tax of $39 per $100,000 of assessed property value. Polling also revealed that the majority supported academic facility im- provements as opposed to those of athletics and/or performing arts.


Computing the revenue gener-


ated from a $39 tax rate, it was determined that the district could sell $296 million in bonds. The board agreed that the proceeds would be split equally between the four comprehensive high schools, resulting in $74 million for each site. Additionally, the board doubled the contribution of general fund money to the de- ferred maintenance fund for the life of the bonds, providing for ongoing maintenance of the reno- vated facilities. In order to fully inform the vot-


ers, the architects are currently developing implementation plans that take into account the Master Plans and scientific polling data that placed the highest priority on educational facilities. The plans will be available at the schools and online at the end of September.


Michael L. Christensen


OUSD Superintendent of Schools School board accord


Dear Editor: As we consider candidates


for the OUSD board this fall, wouldn’t it be great if our school board...


....focused on education, rath-


er than real estate development schemes and the fire sale of prop- erties.


...embraced the idea of full transparency and ethics training, rather than questioning the need for it, given the prospect of re- ceiving millions of bond dollars from the public. ...listened to the will of the


public, to whom they are account- able.


See "Letters" continued on page 9


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Dear Editor


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