Letters are posted as we receive them during the week, and before they are printed in the paper, so check back frequently to see new letters. If you'd like to send a letter to the editor, use this postmarks submission form, or email your letter directly to mail@austinchronicle.com. Thanks for your patience.

Dear Editor,
    I would like to respond to George Bronner's letter ["Bicycle Riders Should Have Better Manners," "Postmarks," Dec. 7] from last week's paper: I know exactly how you felt! I have been in that situation myself a number of times, and I am sure we were thinking the same thing: where is the goddamned bike lane! When the city rebuilt Riverside through Butler Park, they blew a golden opportunity to reduce friction between drivers and cyclists, and sharing that stretch of road sucks. I find sharing the road in general to be stressful and frustrating – that's why I always try to drive on roads with bike lanes; they are so much better. All you road users, keep it cool out there!

Dear Editor,
    More Texans need to home school their kids. Public education has become obsolete, and we can thank Gov. Perry, Texas legislators, and the School Board of Education because they have killed it. Voters deserve part of the "thanks" because they have permitted it. Homeowners deserve "thanks" because they have paid the most for it. Our children suffer because of it.

Dear Editor,
    Please get serious. Despite having preached for decades about the importance of citizen involvement in government, the need for single-member districts in Austin, and the benefits of redistricting by an independent commission instead of elected officials, the Chronicle surprised many of its readers by coming out against the city charter amendment (Proposition 3) that embodied all of these worthwhile objectives [“Nov. 6 Elections: The 'Chronicle' Endorsements,” News, Oct. 19].
    The election is over. The voters of Austin overwhelmingly approved Proposition 3. It is now the law. Rather than being disgruntled about the election outcome, the Chronicle's editors should work for a smooth transition from Austin's current at-large election system to the 10-1 system.
    The transition has started well. The city auditor has accepted his responsibilities seriously under Proposition 3. As Ms. Pagano's recent story in the Chronicle [“A 10-1 Sense of Humor? You'll Need It.,” News, Dec. 7] indicated, there is an excitement among Austinites about the change in the election system and citizen involvement that led to "a standing-room-only public meeting … to brainstorm how to attract [redistricting] commission applicants." Nevertheless, there may be many bumps in the road between now and the election of 10 council members from single-member districts in November, 2014.
    The Chronicle is important to Austin – so is the change to single-member districts. The Austin Chronicle's editors should play an important and positive role in this critical transition process.

   [News Editor Michael King responds: The only person apparently "disgruntled" about the 10-1 situation is professor Bickerstaff – among the unelected authors of the "independent commission" process – who can't take “Yes” for an answer. Now that the Rube Goldberg process has begun, he wants us not only to approve the unfolding parade, but to stand at sober attention ("please get serious"), while ignoring the fact that other local jurisdictions have regularly drawn perfectly adequate district maps without recourse to such a complicated, expensive, and heavily lawyered process. Sorry, but with the parade and its designers already displaying pretension and pomposity, the prescribed remedy for those conditions is laughter.]