By TK program will be cut

We would like to bring to your attention the disturbing news that funding for the Transitional Kindergarten (TK) class offered by the Los Altos School District is to be withdrawn. This valuable class will not be available to children of Los Altos residents in the foreseeable future and we would like to ask that you make the local community aware of this negative development.

Having our children attend TK this year has been a great experience both for them and for us as parents. Many children, for a variety of reasons, need and benefit from that extra year before entering kindergarten. Pre Kindergarten or TK is not always offered at preschools and if available, it is usually expensive and oversubscribed.

One of the solutions that will be offered to future parents of children that require an extra year is to repeat kindergarten. For the kindergarten teachers, it may mean they have to increase their class size and possibly have children among the class that are not really ready to be tbere. Of even more concern is that larger classes with perhaps more than 20 children in a classroom will reduce the attention that can be given to each child and therefore affect the overall quality of education. And of course this will have a knock-on effect through the higher grades.

As parents of children in the Transitional Kindergarten class, we have been very happy with the stimulating, nurturing environment in Jenni Taylor’s classroom.

Our children are having the opportunity to grow and blossom, and with their TK experience, will be better prepared to start kindergarten in the faIl.

Amanda and Denis BrotzLos Altos

Electrical power will always cost more

They still have not got it. Electrical power will always cost more, because natural gas costs will always be more. Environmentalists have forced power plants to use natural gas. Big wrong. Natural gas reserves have been short for 25 years.

Look at your PG&E bill for January. In January 2000, natural gas was .63761 cents for the first 62 therms and .83277 for the rest.

This January, you paid $1.71961 for the first 58 therms and $1.91203 for the rest. Electrical power cost must go up and new (and old) power plants have to be paid for.

What is the answer? Coal and nuclear power. The U.S. has most of the world’s coal. Nuclear power is clean and safe.

Of course, there may be another way. Methane (natural gas) can be made from fermenting cow chips.

With all the B.S. coming out of Sacramento, we should be in good shape forever.

Lou Morgan

Los Altos