Opinion: Education needs better funding, not slick TV ads

A television commercial has been airing showing Gov. Jeb Bush interacting with students in a classroom and giving the impression that he is "the governor for education." The script is peppered with expressions of praise for his accomplishments and his commitment to quality education for the residents of Florida.

Unfortunately, the governor is running for re-election, and the reality is that the scene described is an effort designed to mislead the public.

Here is an example that illustrates the effects of actions taken this year by the governor and the legislators. In the Department of Mathematics at the University of South Florida, the summer teaching budget was slashed by 63 percent, causing the elimination of most required courses. This resulted in a reduction in teacher salaries. The few courses offered now must be taught by graduate students or by two professors sharing a course. In addition, funding was totally eliminated for a highly successful mathematics and science program for gifted school students. This is a program designed for our future leaders and scientists, and has been in existence for more than two decades. To extrapolate from this one example is to demonstrate the state of affairs in Florida schools and universities.

As we know, Florida lags far behind most other states in the nation in its commitment to education. With Florida ranking in the bottom 10 percent of the nation in per capita spending on education, we must ask: How does the governor reconcile a tax break of more than a quarter billion dollars to Florida corporations when schools, colleges and universities are facing these unconscionable budget cuts? Not long ago, this kind of rationalization was referred to as "fuzzy" math by candidate George W. Bush.

Here, perhaps, is the worst aspect of the commercial. To validate the governor's claims that he is "the governor for education," the commercial introduces "teacher-of-the-year" recipients who (surprise, surprise!) endorse the governor. It would have been helpful if they had explained the relationship between tax cuts and reduction in teacher salaries, and between tax cuts and class size. It is enough to send one into an abyss of despair. My only consolation is that none of the teachers I saw in the commercials are former students of mine!

If the quality of education in Florida is to improve, we need adequate funding and not slick commercials.
-- Manoug Manougian, Ph.D., Department of Mathematics, University of South Florida, Tampa

Concern for children is missing

Gov. Jeb Bush, in his TV commercial, says he wants to improve the schools and give teachers better pay. But my grandson cannot go to summer school because there is no money for it. But Jeb Bush gave big business $260-million.

I'm glad I'm a Democrat and don't have to carry this on my conscience. A lot he cares about children!
-- Jean McRae, Pinellas Park

Support personnel are worthy, too

Re: Salary plan puts teachers first, May 29.

Pinellas County teachers are getting a 5 percent pay increase while the noninstructional or "support" staff will get a 2.3 percent hike. Is this a fair shake or simply saying that the instructional staff of the school system is more worthy than the support personnel.

Let us put this into perspective. A teacher has an educational degree and can teach; this is not to say that the support personnel do not have college degrees, because many do pertaining to their particular expertise. The teacher wants to teach, but without the various support personnel within the county system that teacher will have no children in the classroom, no classroom within an operational and maintained building, no supplies or books, no one to feed the children, no one to transport the children to school, no assistants to help in a classroom with special-needs children and no one to pay the teacher or take care of his or her insurance or benefits needs.

I could go on, but I hope you get the picture. And don't throw in the idea that the Salary Alignment Study is going to give noninstructional personnel "another pay increase" in March. That isn't as glowing as it sounds. It's a sad commentary, but that teacher cannot teach our children without the support of the noninstructional personnel. So just who is worthy?
-- Maureen K. Carnell, Redington Shores

Objective evaluation of reading needed

Re: Mastery of reading, editorial, May 27.

I disagree with your statement, "Teachers should be the main judge of whether a child has mastered basic reading skills and is ready to be promoted to the fourth grade, not the state."

Many of Florida's students are poor readers for precisely this reason -- classroom teachers using their subjective judgment on promotions, not an objective test. The FCAT reading test provides an objective test of reading skills and is appropriate to determine if a child is ready for promotion to the fourth grade. The governor's approach is not punitive, and it does provide for exceptions where they are justified, after several levels of review. This review is appropriate, otherwise classroom teachers will be free to continue the practice of social promotions of poor readers, which will hinder the student for the rest of his/her life.

Reading skills are too important in life! Your proposal will just continue the present system, which obviously is not working. All successful enterprises have some form of objective quality control. If we want quality in our education system (and we do), it is time for some objective testing!
-- Arthur M. Richard, St. Petersburg

Extremism isn't a path to peace

As I read the May 25 letters regarding Collier County teacher Ian Michael Harvey's removal from the classroom, I was appalled that people were ignorant enough to label Harvey a "true hero in humanity's struggle for peace" and a "man of truth." Harvey admits that he leans toward anarchy. While he has a right to his views, does anyone honestly think that such extremism could breed a viable vision of peace? Or have such people been so brainwashed that any mention of censorship conjures images of political prisons in China or Cuba?

Of course it is important to teach both sides of any issue to impressionable high school students who often have yet to develop solid political convictions. But when a student's only option is subjugation to a teacher's rants about "the atrocities our country creates," we raise ignorant, counterculture-for-the-sake-of-being-counterculture youths. Such teachers do not serve to explore the complexity of current issues. Instead, they engender a generation that can't understand that the actions of the U.S. government don't always boil down to imperialism and capitalism!
-- Robin C. Hartill, St. Petersburg

What if views had been conservative?

Re: Letters concerning Ian Michael Harvey.

I agree with the majority of the letter writers citing the injustice in what has happened to Ian Michael Harvey due to his leftist stance and refusal to take blindly patriotic views on the "war on terror" in the United States. As a leftist thinker and liberal myself, I wish that there were more teachers such as Harvey teaching within our own local school districts here on the Suncoast -- those who teach students not just to question government, but also to think outside of the box when it comes to politics.

Right now, however, I need to play the devil's advocate in the case of Ian Michael Harvey. While people have said that they do not agree with Harvey's firing simply because of a far-left viewpoint, what would be the case if someone teaching in our schools had a far-right viewpoint? One can argue that school prayer or a "moment of silent meditation/reflection" before school each day is already a rightist stance, but let's go beyond that. What if a science teacher had a poster that put down the theory of evolution and Darwinism and that poster said "God created all" while actually teaching the curriculum of the theory of evolution? Would this be grounds for removal? What about the teachers that travel with Jesus in their hearts and mention Christian beliefs in their lectures to a class about ancient history?

Isn't Ian Michael Harvey's problem being on the opposite side of the spectrum? His removal from his school seemed to be exactly what many would have pushed for if he was a staunch conservative and presented those viewpoints in his class. The question is, would Collier County officials have done anything in regard to removing him if that was the case? Or would they instead label him a loyal, patriotic soul and promote him within the teaching system and heap praise upon him?

Harvey is a hero, like his views or not. He is not thinking within the box that society has us thinking in with regard to day-to-day events (be they the war on terror or the media's role in presenting the news). He should be commended, not squared away because his free thinking presents a problem to the powers that be, the staunch conservatives of Collier County.
-- John Fontana, Palm Harbor

Teacher should be dismissed

Re: Education or activism?, May 20.

I am a Naples resident with six children. I do not "drive a sleek car on a six-lane boulevard that leads to a big new home." I am a stay-at-home mom. Our family lives a modest life on one income. We depend on the public school system to teach our children. My ninth-grade son was enrolled in Ian Michael Harvey's honors English class at Lely High School.

Contrary to the statement in your article that "nobody really noticed until December," we began to notice problems within the first week of classes. My son's class was required to submit a paper about their beliefs. He reported that a student received an "F" grade with the word "wrong" written on it. From that time on, my son reported that his values and beliefs were under attack. Daily he came home with new stories about Mr. Harvey and his beliefs. I called the school several times regarding my concerns about what was going on in the classroom. What did any of this have to do with English? My son's grades reflect that he was one of the "67 percent of Harvey's students in the term following Sept. 11 [who] either failed or received a D." He both participated and turned in the required work on time.

Since Mr. Harvey was removed from my son's classroom, the new teacher has assessed the remaining work that the students have to complete by the end of the school year. They were told they had to make up virtually the entire school year's worth of curriculum in the few remaining weeks left. This has put great stress on the students. This situation in the classroom should have never been allowed to go on as long as it did.

I agree that Mr. Harvey should not be teaching in Immokalee. I don't believe he should be teaching at all.

This is not about Mr. Harvey's beliefs, values or even his right to speak about them and protest. Those are his rights. This is about what Mr. Harvey is and is not teaching in his classroom. Did he cajole and belittle adolescents who dared disagree with him? Yes, and he failed them, too.

Did he teach the Florida mandated curriculum? Apparently not.
-- Cindy Kelly, Naples

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