Pay for your own kid’s private education
Florida Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas is pushing for Schools of Hope charter schools to co-locate in underused public-school buildings (“Florida education commissioner booed at Tampa school board conference,” Dec. 5).
As a person with student loans and a mortgage, I have no children. Yet 42% — almost half! — of my property taxes go to public schools. I don’t mind supporting public education, because I believe it’s important for a functioning society, but I’m particularly angry that I’m now being obligated to pay for other people’s choices of sending their kids to charter schools. What?
People complain about student-loan forgiveness because taking on student loans is a personal choice. Fair enough. The same should be said for charter schools. If you want to send your kid to a charter or private school, then you pay for it. I should not be mandated by the state to pay almost half of my property taxes to support a parent’s choice by inserting charter schools into buildings paid for with public funds. If that’s the case, then I would like an exemption on my property taxes for schools since I don’t have, nor intend to have any children in the public school system.
Angela Abrusci Clermont
Elect Tanna in District 3
What we’ve witnessed over the last 10 months is clear: local power is critical to stopping authoritarianism, whether it comes from Washington, Tallahassee or both.
Orlando’s vibrant immigrant communities are the heart of the city’s economy and cultural life. Their contributions shape the region’s identity, yet they remain vulnerable to state-imposed policies rooted in cruelty and discrimination. Mira Tanna (District 3) is stepping up to defend these communities and ensure that local government protects, not persecutes, its residents.
This election offers voters a genuine opportunity to choose a leader committed to positive, forward-thinking change for Orlando.
Few candidates for local office can say they already understand how to navigate city systems on day one; Tanna can. Her qualifications go far beyond city hall. Over more than a decade in civil rights work — from fair lending investigations in Central Florida to founding the St. Louis Equal Housing & Community Reinvestment Alliance — she has held powerful institutions accountable. Her work challenging redlining and discriminatory lending has generated over $3 billion in reinvestment for historically excluded communities.
This is the kind of experience District 3 needs: someone who doesn’t just talk about equity, but who has produced measurable change.
This is a nonpartisan race, but it is clear that real leaders do not cave to federal or state powers when the time comes to make difficult decisions and stand firm against special interests or Tallahassee bureaucrats. That’s why Orlando needs leaders who will fight for tenant protections, fair housing, renewable energy projects, economic opportunity and affordable health care for every family.
Marta Cruz Kelly Orlando
Beverly E. Casseus Orlando
Marta Cruz Kelly and Beverly E. Casseus are members of Florida Rising, a statewide voting rights and grassroots organizing group.
Democratic battle lines are drawn in Orlando’s District 3 city council runoff
Spend space-travel money on lagoon
The massive pollution of the Indian River Lagoon can be averted by using the impending resources of artificial intelligence (“Blue Origin’s wastewater plans add to Indian River Lagoon concerns,” Dec. 3). Instead of burning all that fuel exploring the possibilities of traveling to Mars or other planets, simulate those experiments with the power of scientific human ingenuity enhanced by the power of quantum computers. The probability of success would likely be the same, except the latter would avoid the pollution of the Indian River Lagoon and the atmosphere of Florida’s East Coast.
James Weatherspoon St. Cloud
Trump’s ICE monster is voracious
Donald Trump’s masked ICE thugs in Operation Swamp Sweep are marauding through the streets of New Orleans with a goal of deporting thousands. Trump’s already vowed to get rid of Haitians, Venezuelans, Afghans and the latest: Somalis. Will Trump outlaw Cajuns next? Kristi Noem, Tom Homan and Stephen Miller could have a hard time with that.
In Miami and across the U.S., citizenship ceremonies have reportedly been canceled so ICE can scoop up more people before they can become naturalized. They have even grabbed some natural-born citizens. It’s like Trump’s Department of Homeland Security is a hungry monster, never getting its fill. ICE appears to be unwilling to find out who people are before they throw them to the pavement, handcuff them, or in the case of a college student who came here as a child, shackling her and sending her back to Honduras. Wow! Don’t we admire the new face of America?
How much more of this will it take for Congress to stand up and impeach someone who I see as a rogue president who hurls lawless directives then nods off during Cabinet meetings? (He’s definitely not “woke.”) Clear-thinking people are demanding his removal from office.
Jean Duhon Hanson Dundee
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