One needs to know when enough is enough. Evidently the gentlepersons running the city have not divined this.

While I appreciate their zeal, it is an unfortunate moniker, given the current events.

If I am not misreading Mr. Beerzie, he is suggesting that it is a shame that out city's leadership (and curmudgeons) don't work themselves into a lather over the state of our public schools, but expend excessive energies on a sports team's edifice.

California Teacher salaries are averaging 60,000 for a ten-month year, with ample benefits. This seems fair for a non-executive position. Mr. Burg's comparison of teacher and CEO salaries is inapt as comparing cows to pigs. CEOs have been hogging the trough, yes, but a better argument would be to look at the compensation of school administrators as a comparison. As for the tired old saw about teachers "being continually undervalued and underpaid", it is like the one about Vietnam Vets being ignored: true at one time but no more. In my experience, teachers are among the most lauded professions in the media. This martyr complex is a red herring.

One would hope the motivation for teaching would go beyond pay and benefits. If the reason for teaching never rises above the nature of a transaction, then can we blame our youngsters for viewing their education in the same way?