San Francisco looks to ban Pet Store, really?

In reading the papers late last night I stumbled on to this article, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/08/MN9L1EAT90.DTL, which talked about San Francisco's Commission of Animal Control and Welfare is proposing a ban on the sale of all pets except for fish. Commission Chair Sally Stephens quipped, "People buy small animals all the time as an impulse buy, don't know what they're getting into, and the animals end up at the shelter and often are euthanized. That's what we'd like to stop." To stop the euthanization of animals the proposal is to close pet stores. In a state that struggles to raise enough tax money to meet budget demands the city of San Francisco is proposing a ban that would shut down businesses and put people on the unemployment line. A quick search via dexknows displayed 59 pet stores in the metro area.

Michael Maddox, general counsel for the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council in Washington, D.C., quipped in the article above, "This is an anti-pet proposal from people who oppose the keeping of pets. If their goal is to ban the ownership of pets entirely, then this is a good first step." If the proposal goes through it would require people in San Francisco to purchase pets from other cities, via the classifieds or through the shelter. Is there something the shelter does differently than a pet store to curb impulse buying? If shelters are being overrun with pets then demand more money from those that drop off pets. Or, as I am sure may already take place, take the animal back to the pet store. Or why cannot the shelter just sell the abandoned or left pets to local pet stores?

Just seems like the liberals in San Francisco are trying to restrict people's choice.

Californians: LGBT issues do not belong in the K-5 curriculum

According to KCBS News in San Francisco, elementary school teachers in Alameda, CA, plan to add lesson plans that will address gay and lesbian issues. The goal of the plan is to introduce students to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual (LGBT) issues in hopes to mitigate bullying and teasing of LGBT children. The classes will be offered to K-5 students. Parents who oppose the addition complain their children are too young to be exposed to the material.

Elementary school is not the proper place to discuss the complex topic of LGBT issues. Since the Alameda school district’s legal team deemed the curriculum not health or sex education prevents parents from allowing their children to opt-out which is something California schools require for all health or sex educational classes. Requiring all students to participate in LGBT issues is not core to the elementary curriculum.

The LGBT issues, at least at this age, ought to be left to the parents. Understandably there will be a set of parents, for various reasons, oppose the LGBT lifestyle and will not educate their children as others may. American schools already see their budgets stretched thin and face new threats as budget cuts loom. The public school system needs to get back to the basics and re-think the system.

Public schools, especially K-5, need to focus on math, reading, writing, and science in order to create a solid foundation. Once the foundation is established complex classes, like LGBT issues, can be understood. For K-5 a shift away from the tradition classroom setting needs to take place. Too many kids are restless in class then ultimately get labeled. Part of the reason for the restlessness is boredom.

Bring back the one room school house. Having a single teacher responsible for K-5 studies that concentrate on the basics will allow students to progress at their own pace. For instance, a 6 year old entering Kindergarten may already be at a 2nd grade reading level. Why not allow that child to learn what the 2nd graders are learning while participating with in math, writing, and science at the Kindergarten level? It is time for teachers to become educators.

Classes dealing with LGBT issues have no business being taught to K-5 students; rather the proper place is during normal sex/health education classes. Educators are required for our K-5 students that have the ability to move the child along based on their abilities.