Public education is wasting away
Leave it to Tallahassee to make the Sunshine State the national poster child for waste, fraud and abuse when it comes to public education (“Save our ‘beloved’ schools: Orange parents protest campus closures,” Dec. 14).
Now we have a gift-wrapped, deficit-ridden holiday gift for our families: charter schools, often unaccredited and unaccountable, are being allowed to take up space, rent-free and maintenance-free, in existing public school facilities. This, on top of the voucher debacle, yields a cumulative legislative report card grade of D-minus, and that’s being generous. In my view, the proposed “schools of hope” are nothing more than a parasitic grift feeding off the public dime. It’s as if you and I are asked to drive the general use lanes on Interstate 4, but latecomer charter schools are given an Express Lane E-pass — with no tolls or payments required. It’s past time to stop the bleeding. Lend your voice. It matters.
C J Williams Winter Park
Public education isn’t failing
Contrary to what we are told, there are no “failing” schools; however, there are schools where students don’t have the advantages other students may have. Yet, all students in all public schools, traditional and charter, take the same standardized test.
I taught in one of those high schools where students worked hard, learned a lot, and took the required tests. There were very few failures in my classes except for those with attendance problems, 15 to 20 days in one grading period. Is this a failing school?
What about private schools? Students do not take standardized tests that evaluate the student and the school. What are they learning? Who knows, with no accountability? Yet Florida prides itself on “school choice,” gives vouchers (our tax money) for use in private schools, and allows parents to be encouraged to choose private schools at the expense of public schools.
Destroying public schools is nothing to brag about. Public schools have always been the backbone of the community and the pride of America. Let’s keep it that way.
Beth Brewer Orlando
Respecting iconic Reiner
I just read your editorial obituary on the passing of Rob Reiner (“Rob Reiner’s brilliance earned him a place in the pantheon of American culture,” Dec. 17). I’d like to thank you for respecting him and his work so much that you didn’t even once refer to him as “Meathead.”
Russell J. Mitchell Orlando
Trump makes everything about Trump
Returning Donald Trump to the White House 11 months ago was a gamble that quickly turned into a bad bet. I believe that on a daily basis, Trump does or says something ludicrous or cruel. Reports indicate that MAGA is cracking apart as it watches their man unravel emotionally like he seemed to this week when he attacked Rob Reiner hours after the film director was murdered. A stable leader would have offered a few kind sentiments and maybe pointed out that the accused killer had a history of aberrant behavior because of narcotic use. Not King Trump. His nasty slander of a dead entertainment icon is just another manifestation of his need to insinuate “Trump” into every controversy or piece of breaking news. In the end, everything has to be about a King Trump who has worn out his welcome.
David Kahn Boca Raton
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