Letter on Neighborhood for Learning was full of hate

I'm responding to the hateful and uninformed letter written by Ms. Carlson in the March 1 Thousand Oaks Acorn ("Tobacco taxes being spent on socialistic groups") regarding Neighborhood for Learning.

I must take issue with the idea that the First Five Preschool programs pander to some lowly group of wretches as Ms. Carlson indicated.

These are children. They have no choice to whom or where they are born.

The parents of these children are involved enough in their child's life to invest time in placing their child in this preschool.

Parents must volunteer three hours minimum each month in the class. No parent is ever unsupervised with any child. The children must have all current vaccinations required by law. The children must wash their hands as they enter, after playing outside and after using the restroom or sneezing. What kindergarten program does this?

The children are taught proper hygiene and manners. The instructors spend countless hours preparing these children for kindergarten so that they don't get bulldozed by new and more complicated testing requirements.

Parents are offered numerous educational seminars, and the kids have community leaders come to the classes, and they go on field trips to fire stations and working farms in order to learn about the great community we live in. The children are constantly challenged to develop into responsible, prepared citizens.

How do I know all of this information? I am a proud parent of a kindergartner at Manzanita Elementary School.

My son went to Neighborhood for Learning for two years. What preschool is available at our school? The Neighborhood for Learning Preschool is there.

We wanted our son to be at his home school, so we enrolled him there. While in this program, my son flourished and was completely prepared to enter kindergarten. He treasures the memories of the exceptional teachers and staff at Neighborhood for Learning. Every child he met that went on to kindergarten with him is as successful and enriched as he is.

Am I an illegal immigrant? No. I'm a seventh-generation Irish-American/American Indian.

Am I a bleeding heart liberal? No. I am a police officer.

I support border regulation and restrictions on numbers coming to our country. I see the results every day of a lack of leadership on this issue. However, to place blame with the children is misguided and mean.

I know just as many obnoxious "white" kids and would rather my son learn tolerance and respect, while sharing our American values with kids who want to learn.

Any child can attend Neighborhood for Learning. I recommend it to all parents of preschoolers. It's a stellar program, and I will be sending my other son as soon as he is old enough-- provided we don't all die of tuberculosis and from the nefarious intentions of the scary parents at this ghetto dumping-ground, as Ms. Carlson would have us believe is our fate.
Sue Carter
Newbury Park