Reed Hastings

Preparing for the eventual extinction of its DVD-by-mail rental service, Netflix Inc. on Tuesday introduced its first solution for subscribers who want entertainment delivered directly to their television sets with just a few clicks on a remote control. The breakthrough comes in the form of a 5-inch-by-5-inch device tailored for a year-old service that uses high-speed Internet connections to stream more than 10,000 movies and television shows from Netflix's library. Although it's provided at no additional cost to most of Netflix's 8.2 million subscribers, the streaming service has had limited appeal because it doesn't include the latest movies and couldn't easily be watched on anything but a personal computer.

A senior member of the state Board of Education who has advocated English-language reading instruction for immigrant children could lose his position on Wednesday amid a furor raised by bilingual education advocates. Silicon Valley entrepreneur and Democratic political donor Reed Hastings was appointed to the state education board by former Gov. Gray Davis in 2000. He was reappointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last January, but must be confirmed this week by the state Senate.

Democratic lawmakers made their first public rejection of a nominee of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday, refusing to reappoint to the state Board of Education a Silicon Valley businessman opposed by advocates of bilingual education. The fight over Reed Hastings, however, had more to do with Democratic Party politics than with the Republican governor. Hastings is a major Democratic donor first appointed by former Gov. Gray Davis, a Democrat, in 2000.

Re "Democrats Reject Gov.'s Nominee," Jan. 13: Most children quickly integrated into English-only classrooms when parents chose these after seeing the lack of progress in the bilingual programs of the past. Positive results are evident when seeing children serving as interpreters for parents at clinics, hospitals and businesses. The rejection of well-respected community leader Reed Hastings to the State Board of Education is most unfortunate. He dared support English-language reading for immigrant children.

In the mid-1990s, as the rest of Silicon Valley was dreaming up futuristic visions for the Internet, Reed Hastings was starting a firm that let people use the World Wide Web to rent an unlimited number of movies for a monthly fee. He built his novel concept around a decidedly un-futuristic strategy, however: Hastings' Netflix Inc. delivered discs through the mail, not downloads through the Net. "Not many people thought that made sense," Hastings said.

State Board of Education President Reed Hastings contributed $50,000 to a state senator one day after the lawmaker introduced legislation that would benefit a network of charter schools founded by Hastings. The legislation, which Hastings says he helped write, would cut state funding to some charter schools that provide independent study programs while increasing the dollars that flow to those charter schools that are classroom-based and serve poor urban areas.