Blach student says bike lanes needed
I sat through the Dec. 11 Los Altos City Council meeting, where I listened to a debate on adding bike lanes in front of Blach Intermediate and Bullis Charter schools on Covington Road.
Unfortunately, I did not get the chance to add my opinion at the meeting. My observation was that the people who talked at this session could have used a current Blach student’s perspective.
As a student cyclist, my opinion on the matter is that both the drivers and bikers are equally to blame for causing an unsafe environment. In my opinion, there should be a bike lane with a barrier to better protect the bikers from cars. However, I feel that the students also need to be better educated on the correct way to bike in traffic.
This combination of bike-lane barriers and educating the students on the biking rules of the road would reduce unsafe behaviors around the school and hopefully better protect the students and drivers.
Jamieson DeAngelis
Eighth-grade student and active cyclist
BCS teachers have less job security, power
The ongoing Los Angeles teachers’ strike is informative for our current Los Altos School District-Bullis Charter School situation.
The teachers are not merely striking for more pay; they are advocating for students in the form of smaller class sizes, more support staff and, importantly, better regulation and oversight of charter schools. The latter helps students in both communities, in the form of better charter schools and less unrestrained growth that drains the district’s resources.
Ironically, Bullis Charter School teachers could not similarly strike for students, as they are not unionized. Once again, fully public schools and unions lead the way, while privatization chips away at this public good. If Bullis Charter School had a public board, a public teachers’ union, etc., maybe there would be more support for its use of our shared public funds.
As it stands, I could not send my children to a public school where the teacher is working longer hours for less pay and with less job security, less voice and less power.
Alison Biggs
Los Altos
