As the superintendent of schools for the Palo Alto Unified School District, I have witnessed firsthand the transformation of students who struggled under our previous early literacy methods but flourished after aligning our approach with the science of reading. Of the more than 900 elementary students who were one or more grade levels behind in 2022, 54% have now achieved or surpassed grade level. For two consecutive years, we have led the state in third grade reading growth among low-income Hispanic students. The best part? Our success is replicable, and the steps to achieve it are outlined in Assemblymember Rubio’s bill, . We cannot accept that 70% of our most marginalized students are unable to read proficiently, especially in light of success stories and proven approaches. I urge us all to support this critical legislation. Together, we can address literacy inequities and unlock a brighter future for all our children. The most impactful issue facing the world today is the long-term
Israeli oppression of the
Gaza Palestinians. In the aftermath of World War II, the world witnessed the full scope of the Jewish
Holocaust perpetrated by the people of
Germany. This led to the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, which in the process displaced the Palestinian Arabs. Seventy-eight years of blindness by the world community to the plight of the
Palestinians in Gaza and Israel ignoring its moral and ethical responsibility toward the Palestinian population created the current Palestinian holocaust. Israel’s systematic oppression and slaughter of the Palestinians is a present-day abomination. Gaza, an unintended consequence of creating a Jewish homeland, requires the collective will and resolution of the world to reverse the years of devastation. Remember your mother’s admonition that “two wrongs do not make a right.”