Letters to the Editors

Feeney's plans for Bright Futures make good sense

Re: Feeney's bright idea, editorial, Feb. 11.

I read with interest your editorial criticizing House Speaker Tom Feeney's attempts to improve Florida's education system for Bright Futures Scholarship recipients. Speaker Feeney is not trying to reduce the amount of learning a student can receive; rather he is trying to reduce redundancy in our education system. It is unfortunate that if an education proposal doesn't include a large increase in state funding, it doesn't pass muster as a good proposal.

Speaker Feeney's plan regarding testing for Bright Futures students was actually created last year as an option for students to take CLEP tests in order to graduate earlier. The provision to make the five tests a requirement was delayed a year so that the Florida Legislature could better address the issue after an optional year of implementation.

As of Dec. 3, 2001, 283 Bright Futures students had downloaded 808 free CLEP study guides. Of those, 131 students had chosen to take 214 CLEP tests. The pass rate was 52 percent, better than the 51 percent pass rate that the Legislature had used in its estimates of the program last session.

The Legislature has proposed a $50 per test incentive this year to provide a real and immediate benefit to encourage students to pass the tests. This is in addition to the incentives that are inherent in the bill from last year (an incentive to graduate early, an incentive to save money on room, board, books, transportation expenses, etc.) Further, the Legislature has eliminated the "perceived disincentive" that was in the legislation last year that would have reduced the students' Bright Futures award amount by the amount of credit the students would receive from passing the tests.

This was just a perceived disincentive because students were allowed to receive 132 hours of Bright Futures award. Since the majority of programs allow a student to graduate in 120 hours, even if a student passed 51 percent of the CLEP tests to receive eight hours of credit and have his Bright Futures award amount reduced, the student still would have had 124 credit hours of Bright Futures remaining. This amount was still more than needed to graduate from a regular program, and the student had just "CLEPPED" out of eight required credits.

Speaker Feeney's plan makes both good fiscal and educational sense. If a student can pass a CLEP test for a given subject, there is no need for that student to spend a semester in class. This will free up a spot for another student who may need to take that particular class. In my opinion, this is an excellent use of our state's valuable education resources.
-- Mike Fasano, state representative, District 45, New Port Richey

A broken promise on Bright Futures

Re: Feeney's bright idea, Feb. 11.

A promise made, a promise broken! That is the only way to describe the efforts of House Speaker Tom Feeney and other members of the Florida Legislature to dim the Bright Futures Scholarship program. The promise made to the high school students of Florida was that if that they worked hard and achieved specified academic standards they would be assisted in paying for their education after high school. The promise implied that the leaders of Florida's government cared about promoting the educational future of our young people.

Guidance counselors, like myself, and other educators could encourage students in their efforts by assuring them that their government had made a commitment to reward those efforts. Speaker Feeney does not mind pulling back on that commitment. He does not mind hurting the best of our young people, even though these young people have achieved the standards set for them and have done so by playing by the rules. He does not mind changing the rules in the middle of the game -- for current seniors, it is really the end of the game.

The only way to return the Bright Futures Scholarships to the standards that were in place before Feeney's meddling in the last two legislative sessions is for students, parents, grandparents, and concerned citizens to take action. Write or call the "education" governor, Jeb Bush, and members of the Legislature. Urge them to end the damage done by Feeney to the promise made to the students of Florida.
-- Rod Palmateer, counselor, Criminal Justice Academy,Pinellas Park High School, Pinellas Park

Puzzling proposal

I don't get it. Certain elected members of the Florida House of Representatives want to allow any student who chooses to go to a private school rather than a public school, for any reason. These students will be provided vouchers at the public's expense.

In addition, these private schools that receive public funds do not need to be accredited. They do not need to comply with the grading system that the state of Florida created. Their students are not required to pass the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test to graduate, something all public school students must do.

Maybe I need to go back to school. Even though those folks up in Tallahassee gave the public eight whole minutes to give our thoughts, I just don't get it.
-- Ken Brown, Seminole

Let the teachers be heard

I was one of 1,500 teachers, support professionals and friends of public education from all over the state of Florida who descended on the Capitol Feb. 5 to demand the truth about funding for public education. The governor's response, though true to form, angered many of my colleagues. "It is a shame that the teachers unions have chosen marching on the Capitol as a better use of time and taxpayer money than teaching children in the classroom."

This governor has continuously tried to silence the voices of the members of the education community by denying our right to speak out on the issues that effect our students, our schools and our employees. When Kenneth Lay called the governor last April to lobby for energy deregulation, I wonder if the governor told him that it was a shame that he had chosen that as a better use of his time than attending to running the business of Enron? I bet not, although in retrospect, that would have been good advice from the governor!

Actually, we wouldn't have needed to be in Tallahassee at all if the governor had managed the finances of this state in a responsible and effective way over the past three years. Instead, he thought that tax breaks for the wealthy were more important than improving our public schools. Now that I think of it, perhaps that phone call last April from Ken Lay was actually the governor seeking advice from the CEO of Enron on how to do right by the wealthy at the expense of the little people.
-- Rob McMahon, president, Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association, Largo

A positive attitude on accountability

Re: Schools prepare kids to be put to test, Feb. 11.

Your article about FCAT preparation at Shaw and Lealman Avenue elementary schools was the most positive and uplifting article on this subject that has appeared in the local papers in five years.

It's time for all of us to embrace higher standards and stricter accountability as an essential part of public education the way these two schools have. I commend the administrators and teachers for the can-do and will-do attitude conveyed in the article. With that attitude, the kids will succeed.

We all need to consider the fact that the FCAT does not just grade the schools and teachers. It grades parents who nurture and guide the kids. It grades state and county government for their fiscal commitment to education. It grades the business community for contributions and involvement. It grades our college and university system for its ability to educate the educators throughout their teaching careers. Until every school is an FCAT A school, we all need to work harder and contribute more.
-- Thomas A. Baker, Lutz

Tell the full story on privacy bill

Your Feb. 4 editorial Assaults on sunshine was really an "assault on responsible journalism." Shouldn't you have reported the truth about why I introduced the bill? I introduced the bill because my local utility and a representative of Florida's public utilities came to me with a request to help them protect their customers from identity theft, fraud and humiliation. It was only after I agreed to sponsor the bill that I learned a member of my church, whom I do not know (we have more than 25,000 members), was one of those embarrassed by an article in our local newspaper.

As for your bias, I ask the following questions:

Didn't you think you should have told your readers that the legislation, in addition to keeping an individual's water usage records private, keeps private a customer's credit card number and expiration date, driver's license number, bank account number, Social Security number and e-mail address?

Shouldn't you have told your readers that newspapers have used their access to this information to release victim's names before the next of kin were notified?

Shouldn't you have told your readers that abusive spouses have used this data to track down their victims and repeatedly abuse them?

Shouldn't you have told your readers that in this age of deregulation, private utilities have used usage information for their gain at the expense of the taxpayer-owned public utilities?

And finally, shouldn't you have told your readers that none of that information you say the public demands is public record if the consumer's water comes from a private facility or well?

You did do one thing well: I liked the caricature.
-- Mike Hogan, state representative, District 13, Jacksonville

A reawakened sense of justice?

Re: Figure skating outrage.

I cannot help but be amazed at the outrage shown by the American media and public concerning the scandalous judging of the Olympic pairs figure skating competition. Surely this is an overblown reaction to what is, after all, a sporting event -- relatively unimportant in a time of national tragedy and war.

My only conclusion can be that Americans are basically honest people with a high sense of integrity. As such their reaction to this travesty is a metaphor for several things: for the disillusionment and anger they feel about the current Enron situation, where corporate leaders have enriched themselves at the expense of their shareholders and employees; and for the betrayal and embarrassment they felt when President Clinton lied to them, and again when the public was confronted with the post-presidential scandals and pardons.

Perhaps the events of Sept. 11 have reawakened the country to its intrinsic sense of fairness, morality and justice, and Americans are proving that they no longer will quietly condone corruption.
-- Margaret Johnson, Belleair

Give both couples the gold

It is now apparent that the gold medal was awarded to the second-place team in the pairs figure skating. What a tragedy that the Canadian couple has been deprived of what is rightfully theirs after the effort that was put into this event by both couples. Since it is now evident that the judge(s) were not forthright, it additionally would be unfair to take the gold away from the Russian pair. They had nothing to do with it.

It appears to me the only solution is to award both teams a gold and consider it a tie for first.
-- Robert L. Vollmer, Spring Hill

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