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Supplemental education
pays off in the end

Re: “California is turning page on reading crisis” (Page A1, Aug. 10).

The Aug. 10 article has a hopeful message suggesting that educators in California are determined to make sure that our students have every opportunity to be competent in this important skill.

There is a close association between literacy and juvenile and adult crime. One who cannot read will have difficulty finding employment and acquiring the ability to be self-supporting.

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A significant number of students, in the K-12 population, have learning challenges, and not all school districts have previously been committed to the discovery of these students and providing them with the necessary assistance to make them successful.

Supplemental programming can be expensive but cheap in comparison to the long-term costs of not providing it. It is past time to right this wrong.

Eugene Hyman
Los Altos

H-1B visas perpetuate
a type of servitude

Re: “Policies tighten for H-1B visas” (Page A1, Aug. 10).

The Aug. 10 article on H-1B Visas is appallingly biased. I worked nearly 20 years in tech firms and saw the program’s abuses.

H-1B advocates claim that there are no American workers educated to fill needed jobs. Are Americans to remain unskilled for these jobs forever?

Companies that take on H-1B visa workers are supposed to pay into a job-training fund for Americans. I never encountered any graduates from such programs.

If H-1Bs get the best and brightest of “global” talent, why are the overwhelming majority of H-1B employees Indian or Chinese? The latter provide ridiculously easy cover for industrial espionage.

These visas are modern indentured servitude. The workers are paid less and don’t complain at long hours for fear of deportation. There will never be a “Norma Rae” at a tech company.

Chris MacAuslane
Santa Clara

Approve sales tax to
shore up health care

Re: “Voters asked to approve new sales tax in November” (Page A1, Aug. 9).

I am a retired registered nurse who worked in public and private hospitals locally for 40 years. I witnessed how patient safety improves when all resources operate together.

Cooperation during the pandemic guides us as we face extreme federal cuts on Medicaid. It is false to assume that hospitals and citizens in higher economic neighborhoods will not be impacted. None of us knows where we will be when we may need urgent care. We are not a stationary society. When any one hospital is overburdened and has to deny patient access, the burden shifts to other hospitals. Ambulances are diverted. Care is delayed. We worked together to improve systemwide challenges during COVID.

I support a sales tax as a viable immediate solution to keep our public hospitals functioning to support the entire county network of care. Lives will be negatively impacted when any part of the system is overburdened.

Vivian Low
Cupertino

Uncertainty threatens
to derail BART plan

Re: “Experts refute tunnel’s price tag” (Page A1, Aug. 12).

If this political climate persists into the next decade, and the design, risks and funding uncertainties remain unresolved, San Jose, Downtown and the Diridon Transit Hub will be subjected to an endless cycle of study, public outreach and costly analysis.

Meanwhile, professional planners, designers and managers will complete their tours, pay off their houses, and enjoy their golden years while Berryessa remains a terminus station with no link into town.

David Dearborn
San Jose

Guard deployment
merits loud protest

Re: “National Guard troops arrive in D.C.” (Page A1, Aug. 13).

Now our nation’s capital is an armed camp with National Guard patrolling The Mall and intimidating visitors and residents alike. Where is the outrage?

Donald Trump calls D.C. a “lawless city” with no facts to support his claims. Like any Third World despot, he enjoys a show of military force, and the fact that he controls our military is in itself frightening. Americans must demand presidential restraints on this man who daily abuses his power.

As history tells us, it might be L.A., New York City, and D.C. for now, but are we to wait until the National Guard rolls into your city and neighborhood before we demand congressional and judicial intervention? We must protest loudly, hoping someone is listening.

Claudia Parker
San Jose

Suit will decide if coffee
shop owner broke law

Re: “Coffee shop lawsuit should be tossed” (Page A8, Aug. 10).

One can choose to open a public business or not. If you do, you must comply with civil rights laws.

By excluding people with hats with the Star of David, the owner may have violated these laws. It remains to be seen how the suits by the customers and the government will turn out. That is why we have courts and lawyers. There are likely additional facts that may not be public yet that could affect a jury’s decision. To claim they are baseless and should be thrown out now is premature. The law has procedures available to seek dismissal before trial.

While David Spero has a right to his views about the Gaza issues, the political debate should not permit someone to violate the law. Even the Nazis had court-recognized rights which gave them the right to march in Skokie, Illinois, home to many holocaust survivors.

Robert Kopelson
Santa Clara