Letters to the Editors

Teacher union stands up for Florida's schools

Re: Once mighty teacher union's influence on wane, March 25.

In your story regarding the Florida Education Association, it's worth noting that the anti-public education partisans who have spent years working to undercut public education have now taken aim at Florida's teachers and educators.

The idea that the FEA is at odds with those who have placed Florida's public schools, colleges, and universities under attack is absolutely accurate.

Educators know that the practices, policies and budget cuts of the past few years have been harmful to our public schools. After Gov. Jeb Bush spent years bragging about historic levels of education funding, it was a St. Petersburg Times analysis that confirmed what the FEA and anyone in a classroom knew all along: There had been no real increase at all.

Under the Bush administration, education funding has increased by less than one quarter of 1 percent, while elected leaders continue to mislead Floridians with claims of record funding. In fact, teacher salaries continue to plummet and now are more than $5,000 below the national average.

From vouchers to the do-or-die pressure of the FCAT to increasing class sizes to drastic cuts in school budgets, Florida's schools are hard-pressed to find friends in Tallahassee. For years, the Florida Education Association has been the only voice rising up against the constant attack.

While it may make some uncomfortable, the Florida Education Association will never, ever shy away from our goal of standing up for Florida's schools and those professionals who sacrifice so much to educate our students. Florida's embattled educators, Florida's public education students and Florida's citizens deserve nothing less.
-- Maureen Dinnen, president of the Florida Education Association, Tallahassee

Strong union needed for good schools

Re: Once mighty teacher union's influence on wane.

As a public school teacher in Pinellas County for 32 years, and an active union member, I am compelled to comment on your article about the "union's influence." I agree with the basic facts put forth in your article, but there is so much left unsaid.

What your article does not say, and what the public needs to know, is that a strong teacher union is an essential element of a high-performing school system.

Everywhere in the United States you find a truly innovative, truly high performing school system with sustained excellence, you find that the teachers, through a well-organized and effective union, are an essential and integral part of the planning and execution of everything good that is happening in that school system. It doesn't matter how outstanding a superintendent may be, or how strong the local school board may be, there is no excellence without the creative energies and participation of the teachers and their organization.

You don't have to look any further than the Pinellas County schools to see this correlation. This school system is widely recognized as one of the best in Florida, and not coincidentally, the teacher union in Pinellas is one of the strongest local unions in the state. You can find this same correlation between good school systems and strong unions all over the country. Conversely, the politicians in the state capitals never are responsible for excellence in the public schools in their states. The best they can do is lend their support and adequately fund their schools. The worst they can do is get in the way of quality education, which is certainly the case in Florida at the moment.

I have news for all of those Tallahassee "education experts" -- if you want better, more effective schools, you better start listening to me and my union. And you better start adequately funding Florida public schools. The only real claim to fame Jeb Bush has as our education governor is that Florida is ranked No. 1 in programs that give away scarce state education funds to private, untested, unregulated schools. In every other meaningful measure of Florida's commitment to public schools, we rank at or near the bottom of the 50 states, and the trends continue downward.

Is it any wonder our teacher union wants to replace Gov. Bush with a governor who has a genuine commitment to public schools?
-- Don Macneale, St. Petersburg

Union should seek to change

I found your March 25 article Once mighty teacher union's influence on wane, very disturbing because the teacher's union is the only vehicle through which an educator has a voice. However, I think the union has the ability to rebound to once again become a force if it does just a few things:

Unions members should admit they have a problem. Admitting you have a problem is the first step toward recovery, and saying that young people aren't joiners shows that FEA president Maureen Dinnen is in a state of denial.

Think big. It's not that the union has bad ideas, they're just small ideas.

Be pro-active and hard chargers. The union leaders need to quit waiting around hoping for things to improve. Make something happen.

They need to regain the moral high ground on issues. Right now the union doesn't enjoy the support of the people.

I have more suggestions as well, but if the teacher union does these few things it should be well on the way toward being an effective force in government.
-- David R. Jones, Zephyrhills

Another option

Re: Once mighty teacher union's influence on wane.

The headline says it all; the influence of Florida's teacher union is waning, and with good reason. The union is out of touch with reality, and that's why younger teachers are shunning it. The union's bloated bureaucracy in Tallahassee is more concerned with toppling Gov. Jeb Bush than it is in generating results for Florida's teachers.

Fortunately, Florida teachers have an option. Instead of the union, they can affiliate with the Professional Educators Network of Florida. PEN is a professional teachers organization that is committed to advancing the interests of Florida teachers, not a national union agenda.

Why are Florida teachers losing confidence in the union? Because they know it's not delivering results for them. Florida ranks 28th in the nation in average teacher salaries; neighboring Georgia ranks 19th. In Georgia, the majority of teachers are represented by a professional organization similar to PEN.

Georgia teachers earn an average of nearly $5,000 a year more than their Florida counterparts. So how exactly is the union serving the interests of Florida teachers? I urge Florida teachers to see for themselves that there is a better alternative than the union. Visit the Web site www.penfl.org.
-- Robert J. Boyd, chairman, Professional Educators Network of Florida, Tallahassee

Union is self-serving

Re: Ranks split over union chief's style, March 25.

This article should disabuse anyone of the notion that the teacher union is for anyone other than the union members. Jade Moore gets paid $91,000 a year to lambaste politicians with his "potty mouth," getting the school board to "spend $19-million they didn't have (on raises)." Obviously, the union's priority is not our children. Where is the concern for our children's education, personal safety and personal development?

The union can't put those things first when it's in a grab for money and power, and what Moore says is his main goal: unseating Jeb Bush. The thought of this man as an appointed education commissioner under the next governor is more than enough reason to vote for Jeb Bush!
-- Paul Bedinghaus, chairman, Republican Party of Pinellas County, St. Petersburg

Returning to nursing is difficult

Re: A clearer path to nursing, March 21.

Some problems with nursing recruitment and retention are being overlooked by this legislation. As a registered nurse currently working as a consultant in medical marketing, I have found real obstacles to returning to nursing that are not being addressed. Maybe I am a good example of how difficult it is to get back into nursing.

I left hospital employment as a charge nurse 11 years ago to go into medical marketing and training, and then to raise my small children. I have since come back to work, traveling in the Southeast as a management consultant, again doing medical training. I have dealt with technical, clinical issues in several areas of the hospital. Yet when considering coming back to my nursing career to update my skills and work close to my home, I was disappointed by the effort from nurse recruiters. In Pinellas County I was told that I needed to attend a course at St. Petersburg College to prepare me for nursing. The cost of this program is $575 and requires attendance from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday for six weeks. The cost would be entirely out of my pocket and no preceptorship is available as it is to brand-new graduate nurses. The dedicated nurse who performed this work of marvel would then be paid a little less than $15 an hour. These difficulties, of course, don't compare to the nurses who work tirelessly for years with little more in pay. Nurses perform the work of angels and yet are given so little in return.

I understand that nursing is difficult enough to require a course, but I wonder why the hospitals, the interest groups and the Legislature don't consider how to attract the legions of former nurses back to the field. So many of us have a love of nursing, but these obstacles keep us away. Last year I was in a Bible study group with 12 women. Ten of us were nurses. Only two were practicing in the hospitals; the rest worked in other fields. I have known many nurses who left the field, sure never to return if these obstacles remain.

It is an often-used phrase in nursing that "we eat our young." I contend that without further advances from the industry or the Legislature, we won't do any better with our experienced, older nurses.
-- Ann Briggs, Clearwater

Scents are a problem for many

Re: Fragrances cloud the atmosphere, letter, March 28.

I am so happy to see someone addressing this problem. It has been more than five years since I have been able to attend Ruth Eckerd Hall, or any other theater or movie theater locations because, as the letter writer remarks, too many people feel they can only appear in public swamped in perfume or cologne. This is a situation that is even driving people from the workplace, when co-workers refuse to recognize that there is a genuine problem.

Many doctors now ask patients not to wear their perfumes when visiting their offices, because of the severe adverse effects on other patients suffering from allergies, asthma, etc., and I have to feel there would probably be far fewer instances of breathing-related problems if most people wore far less perfume, which for many of us is now becoming just as much of a problem as second-hand tobacco smoke.

This is definitely one area where, for those of us who suffer from allergies, less is definitely more than enough.
-- D.M. Hirons, Clearwater

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