Mailbag: Writers care about schools, differ on approach

The Daily Pilot edition dated Feb. 8 offered an interesting contrast between two sincere advocates concerned with the Newport-Mesa Unified School District’s successful accomplishment of its mission to properly educate and prepare its graduates to be all they can be. Views were presented by Pilot columnist Steve Smith and school board Trustee Karen Yelsey.

Smith’s front page-column (“City Life: Hubbard could be re-hired”) suggested a competent checklist for avoiding contractual obligations that have plagued past N-MUSD administrations.

Nothing in Smith’s column appeared to be “misleading, defamatory and malicious,” per Yelsey’s Community Commentary (“Smith’s generalizations about Newport-Mesa are wrong”).

Yelsey emphasized the district’s efforts to assimilate non-English-speaking students into the N-MUSD system, which is laudable.

However, for a student to more successfully make this transition, it is necessary for the student’s entire family to embrace English within the home, i.e., encourage English media and language within the home. Total Immersion, not a piecemeal commitment, is the key to quicker student success.

Charles Randolph

Balboa Island

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The kindness of strangers

I was recently assaulted at 9 a.m. on San Joaquin Hills Road by a transient woman while I was walking my dog. As I found out later, many people called 911, but one kind woman named Lisa stopped and got me and my dog into her car. In these times, it is so easy not to get involved, but this angel saved me from a situation that could have been a lot worse.

Thank you so much, Lisa! I cannot tell you how much I appreciate what you did!

Diane Campbell

Newport Beach

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Our freedoms are eroding

President Obama ruling America by mandate must be catching. Now we even have some states and cities starting to rule by mandate.

A current example is that some coastal cities are mandating that stores cannot put the customers’ purchases in plastic bags. Seems too many politicians are caught up in becoming rulers in our nanny state.

This trend is eroding and destroying our freedoms, a step at a time. They are destroying our freedoms using the “how to boil a frog” system. That is, bring the water to a boil slowly and by the time the frog realizes he is being cooked, it will be too late to jump out.

Dave Connell

Laguna Beach