Opinion
Education Letter to the Editor

A ‘Political Vendetta’ Against Reed Hastings?

February 23, 2005 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

To the Editor:

Shelly Spiegle-Coleman’s letter about Reed Hastings’ ousting from the California state board of education cannot go unchallenged (“Calif. Board Member’s Departure: Another View,” Feb. 9, 2005). According to her, one of the reasons for his failure to achieve reappointment was his “refusal to recognize that, since 1998 and under his leadership, the achievement gap between English-language learners and native English-speakers has grown.”

Lo and behold, The Los Angeles Times published an article on Feb. 9, 2005, citing the results from the California English-Language Development Test. Apparently, Ms. Spiegle-Coleman was not aware that under Mr. Hastings’ watch, “47 percent of California’s 1.3 million limited-English students were fluent last year, compared with 43 percent for the previous year. The fluency rate has steadily increased from 25 percent in 2001.”

People who care about the achievement of our Latino students should be dancing in the streets, not fabricating excuses for what is clearly a political vendetta against Mr. Hastings.

Gisèle Huff

San Francisco, Calif.

A version of this article appeared in the February 23, 2005 edition of Education Week as A ‘Political Vendetta’ Against Reed Hastings?

Events

Teaching Profession K-12 Essentials Forum New Insights Into the Teaching Profession
Join this free virtual event to get exclusive insights from Education Week's State of Teaching project.
Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and K-12 education jubs at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
Mathematics K-12 Essentials Forum Helping Students Succeed in Math

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Quiz What is a Project 2025 Author Doing at the Education Department? Take This Weekly Quiz
Test your knowledge on the latest news and trends in education.
1 min read
Education Briefly Stated: June 11, 2025
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
5 min read
Education Quiz What Is the #1 Factor Boosting Students' STEM Motivation? Take This Weekly Quiz
Test your knowledge on the latest news and trends in education.
1 min read
Education Briefly Stated: June 4, 2025
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read