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Column avoids CTA’s
arguments against bill
Re: “California must make schools safer for Jews” (Page A8, Sept. 7).
Daniel Klein, CEO of Jewish Silicon Valley, argues that teacher unions are not operating in good conscience in opposing AB 715 to reduce antisemitism. He likens their opposition to that of the segregationists of the 1960s.
Klein says the Jewish community is not seeking special treatment, just equal treatment under the law. However, he turns a blind eye to uniquely complex provisions prohibiting an “antisemitic learning environment” and establishing an “Antisemitic Prevention Coordinator” with wide-ranging independent powers.
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Fortunately, the California Senate struck these draconian provisions out of the bill now awaiting the governor’s signature.
The teacher’s unions opposed AB 715 because it compromised their autonomy and authority when there are already anti-discrimination laws on the books.
It’s sad that Klein could not engage the teacher unions on the merits of their arguments.
Oscar Rosenbloom
Palo Alto
Growing SJSU must
provide parking relief
San Jose State University is growing, which is exciting for the institution, but unfortunately, parking on campus hasn’t matched the rise in enrollment. Every day, students, staff and faculty spend crucial learning or teaching time circling parking garages, hoping to find a spot. It is stressful, especially for those attempting to balance multiple responsibilities, from work to classes and personal obligations.
Even those who pay for costly parking permits face frustration, as having a permit does not guarantee a spot. On top of that, the daily parking rate has gone up, making it even more expensive for students who rely on daily parking. SJSU prides itself on being a commuter school, yet the current parking situation makes commuting unnecessarily difficult.
The university should expand parking, improve shuttle services or implement adjusted rates. Students and faculty should not lose time or energy just trying to park. Education must come first.
Perla Rangel
San Leandro
State should fund
urban fire safety
Re: “Landmark study gives pathway to fire safety” (Page A1, Sept. 7).
As Ethan Baron’s article on the study of home hardening points out, “Keeping insurance is a major impetus for people to take action to protect their homes.” I can’t stress enough how much I believe that the focus of government should turn from forest thinning in remote areas to home hardening in urban areas.
As this study points out, home hardening and Zone 0 clearing can help up to 40% more than not observing these precautions. And if you can get a community to participate rather than just one home, you are really helping homeowners to survive a wildfire.
As insurers take a stricter approach with fire-prone Californians, helping homeowners with government funding becomes even more important. Talk to your representatives about switching from far-flung forest “raking” to helpful, scientifically effective home hardening for the best bang for your tax dollars.
Janet Doherty
Sacramento
Officials’ stock trades
need higher standards
In an effort to limit the probability of our public servants using their elected office to enrich themselves, the U.S. Congress stated that stock trading by its members was legal as long as such trades were made public. It hoped that such required public disclosure would limit, but not eliminate, aggressive stock trading for personal enrichment.
The effectiveness of such disclosure to achieve this objective is questionable after the Wall Street Journal on Sept. 13, 2025, revealed that Rep. Ro Khanna made an astounding 2,883 stock trades in the first eight months of 2025. (Khanna and other members of Congress told the publication that they don’t make these trades themselves; their financial advisers do the buying and selling without any input from the members of Congress.) Higher ethical standards should be imposed on all three branches of the federal government now.
K. R. Kummerer
Saratoga
E-scooters, robotaxis
bring novel problems
I’m a lifelong resident of San Jose, and I strongly object to the City Council’s endorsements of rental scooters and robotaxis.
I live on Stokes Street, about a block from the intersection with Southwest Expressway. When scooters were allowed in the neighborhood, I’d see schoolchildren using them, often two at a time. Rarely were obvious adults using them. The school kids would ride on the sidewalk, and against traffic, and leave scooters in the middle of sidewalks when done, creating numerous safety hazards and eyesores.
Today, for the first time, I saw my first Waymo robotaxi. It had parked in a red zone, stayed there for a couple of minutes, and pulled out in front of a vehicle already on the road. Two infractions in five minutes.
This is no way to solve transportation issues, especially the scooter companies that can’t, or won’t, even prevent illegal use by minors.
Al Dorshkind
San Jose
Kirk’s polish misused
on divisive rhetoric
Re: “Charlie Kirk practiced politics the right way” (Page A7, Sept. 12).
Cannot Ezra Klein see the politics of Charlie Kirk in the larger sense of who he promoted? Successful pitchmen have polished deliveries, and Klein sees only that polish when writing of Kirk “practicing politics the right way.” Kirk was a front man for the lawless and immoral Donald Trump. Kirk advanced the destruction of our democracy by using his skills to support that destruction. While his speech is free, aiding in the destruction of our democracy is anything but “right.”
Of course, we feel saddened by the loss of a life. But for Kirk to have spent his adult life polishing the pedestal of the insurrectionist of Jan. 6, the adjudicated sexual abuser and defamer, the convicted finance fraud, the patsy of Putin and so much more is to have wasted a life. Think if his skills had been used to advance the benefit of USAID around the world.
Allen Price
Half Moon Bay