Pajaro Valley Unified School District’s proposed “controversial issues” policy pretends to protect balance, but instead threatens to silence teachers and sanitize truth, writes the Pajaro Valley Teachers Federation. By demanding teacher neutrality and forcing teachers to ask permission before they can discuss tough topics, the district is engaged in censorship, they write. California law already guards against bias, and they believe the proposed policy changes are overreach. They demand the district’s board of trustees reject them in a vote set for Wednesday.
Opinion from Community Voices
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Prop 50’s ‘Election Rigging Response Act’ asks us to fight fire with fire — but at what cost?
Proposition 50 would redraw California’s congressional map to counter Texas’ gerrymandering — aiming to flip the House of Representatives blue and block President Trump’s agenda. But, author Casey Beyer argues, it’s a symbolic gesture with little real power to change outcomes in Washington.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
How Santa Cruz County is investing in kids — starting at birth
Santa Cruz County’s Semillitas program helps families build wealth for their children from birth, offering every newborn since 2021 a college savings account with up to $500 in potential deposits. More than a financial tool, write Semillitas director Crystal Gonzalez and former Santa Cruz mayor Ryan Coonerty, it’s “a statement of community values.”
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For affordable housing and a humane Santa Cruz – vote yes on Measure C
OPINION: Santa Cruz’s beauty and desirability drive up housing costs — and the market alone won’t build homes for teachers, bus drivers or grocery clerks, writes UCSC professor emeritus Christopher Connery. Measure C, he says, offers a fair, modest step toward fixing that; he urges a yes vote.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
The future of feminism is in my Santa Cruz home: My husband works and changes diapers
OPINION: Santa Cruz engineer and mother Emily Figurski argues that feminism’s next frontier isn’t dismantling masculinity — it’s redefining it. Figurski credits her husband’s equal partnership in parenting and housework as essential to her career success.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Letter to the editor: Attacks on Joy Flynn as PVUSD trustee are unfair
In a letter to the editor, members of grassroots group Pajaro Valley for Ethnic Studies and Justice take issue with a recent letter to the editor criticizing Pajaro Valley Unified School District Trustee Joy Flynn.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Letter to the editor: Lookout got it right and wrong on Measure C
In a letter to the editor, a Santa Cruz resident comments on a Lookout editorial about Measure C, on city residents’ November ballot.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Letter to the editor: No on Measure C
In a letter to the editor, a Santa Cruz resident urges a no vote on Measure C, on the November ballot for city residents.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Santa Cruz says it wants fewer cars. So why is it making biking so dangerous?
Santa Cruz could lead the nation in safe, active transportation — yet city leaders keep stalling, writes local bike enthusiast Brooke Secor. While e-bikes boom and collisions rise, officials have not added even basic protections for cyclists and pedestrians.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Letter to the editor: Driscolls, please go all-organic
In a letter to the editor, a Santa Cruz resident urges berry giant Driscoll’s to go organic and stop using harmful pesticides.