Re: Group's ad campaign touts state vouchers, Nov. 27.
The governor's voucher program is a failed experiment that has benefitted a few thousand while harming hundreds of thousands. It is time to end this waste of taxpayers dollars and put the public's money back where it belongs - in the public's schools.
That fewer people are using the voucher program does not show it to be a success, nor is it poorly publicized. It is simply an idea whose time has come and gone. It is a further waste of taxpayer money to try to advertise a bad idea.
Some of the private schools that are taking public money to educate a handful of children do not account for the money they get. If public school officials misappropriated funds in this way, they would go to jail. The public schools are there to educate children, not to line their own pockets at public expense.
Florida's schools are not receiving enough money to do their jobs properly. This is why the governor has allowed high school kids the chance to graduate with fewer credits.
Let's stop sending money to privateers (and even criminals) that want to profit at public expense. Let's eliminate the voucher program boondoggle and invest in our children's future. Let's invest in a school system owned and run by us - the public, the taxpayers. Let's spend that voucher money on the public school system.
-- Philipp Michel "Mike" Reichold, Largo
Make voucher schools use FCAT
Re: Group's ad campaign touts state vouchers.
How do we know children taking advantage of these school vouchers are doing any better? What data are there to support this statement? Why are children going to a private school with public money not accountable to the same assessment tool? Doesn't the public want to know if these students truly are doing better? Doing better than what? Based on what?
One mother says that her son is "doing really, really well." Well how? Is it because in a Christian school teachers are allowed to say that God has a purpose for their lives and to live responsibly? Is it because teachers are allowed to access Scripture as an example of moral behavior? Then yes, maybe they are doing well. But academically who can tell?
Why can't those students using public money take the FCAT as well. Let's see if they are doing better. If they are, then maybe public schools should start doing what they are doing.
Another thing, why are most Florida corporations not paying taxes, this seems wrong to me. Doesn't this bother anyone? Hello, wake up out there!
-- Kathy Zell, St. Petersburg
The public is not served
Re: Lawmakers cry poverty on class sizes, Nov. 21.
Sen President Jim King says he can't find money to reduce class size as ordered by the voters when they passed a constitutional amendment. There is plenty of money available. George Bush sent a large amount to Florida, but the governor is saving it for next year when he can use it to influence the election. Now, because the people went against his wishes, the governor wants to make it extremely difficult for the voters to amend the Constitution.
I was taught in school that elected officials were to serve the citizens. If this were the case in Florida, and the Legislature and the governor were doing their jobs, there would be no need for voters to amend the Constitution. It is obvious: They serve only the lobbyists.
-- Gladys T. Hyduke, Tarpon Springs
Democrats being discriminated against
Miriam Oliphant, Democratic supervisor of elections in Broward County, was fired by Gov. Jeb Bush for "neglect of duty, incompetence and misfeasance." Perhaps she was guilty of all of these accusations, I don't know.
What I do know is that during the 2000 presidential election, of the 67 Florida counties, about 15 had problems with ballots. Some white and many African-American ballots mysteriously disappeared and/or were never counted. Democrats wanted a continuous recount of ballots, but the Republican Supreme Court justices stopped the recount and appointed George W. Bush as this country's president. Not one election supervisor was fired by Gov. Jeb Bush!
Now we have Democratic state Sen. Walter "Skip" Campbell, who was replaced as the chairman of the Senate Finance and Taxation Committee at the suggestion of Senate President Jim King. Campbell was targeting Florida corporations not paying their fair share of state taxes. Could these be Republican corporations or maybe Republicans in those corporations' deep pockets?
Jim Horne, Republican commissioner of education, admitted to the state Board of Education that "There are things I'm not proud of." Critics note he is not keeping a tight enough rein on programs. Then there is the missing $168,000. Or how about the seven different directors of school choice in the past three years? Is Jeb Bush going to fire fellow Republican Jim Horne who has essentially admitted his own ineptitude or will there just be a continuation of the blatant discrimination against Democrats by Republicans?
-- John McMasters, Gulfport
Who will speak for retired people?
Re: AARP speaks for no one in particular, Nov. 28.
I am canceling my membership in AARP effective immediately. I hope many others will follow suit and do the same. Dale Van Atta's Nov. 28 column was a real eye-opener. He quoted former Sen. Alan Simpson, R-Wyo.: "AARP is a group of people bound together only by a common love of travel discounts."
How true, and that's one of the many problems with AARP today! AARP is certainly not representing any retiree in this Medicare package! Only AARP's discounts, insurance, and health care enterprises, as well as AARP CEO William Novelli and John Rother, AARP's legislative policy director, will benefit from this package.
It's time to create a real organization that really serves the retirees and not the AARP management's political and business goals.
Will the real representative(s) of the retired people please stand up! AARP most certainly is not what it advertises to be.
-- Bob Shutt, New Port Richey
Special interests are in charge
Re: GOP bill pushers resort to threats, Nov. 27.
We are no longer a government of the people, by the people and for the people. We are a government of the special interests, by the special interests and for the special interests. Ours is a "bought" government. It costs millions of dollars to run for office, and so the large lobbies can and do control how our representative and senators vote. Rep. Nick Smith is not the first, nor will he be the last to be threatened. And I'm sure his son, Brad Smith is "dead meat." He will never make it to Congress. Money from the drug lobbies will see to that. Our Congress should have put price controls in place long ago. The drug companies spend billions on advertising, in brain-washing our doctors, and controlling Congress.
What's even scarier is that the lobbies control our Congress, and yes, even our president, as far as international policy is concerned. I recommend a look at They Dare To Speak Out by Paul Findley. As a congressman, Findley, among other things, worked hard for peace in the Middle East. His book examines the history of America's lopsided official attitude toward the Middle East, and how pro-Israel forces wield remarkable power to suppress free debate, compromise national secrets, and shape U.S. foreign policy.
The only solution is to limit how much can be spent on campaigning for office. How that can be achieved I do not know. Special interests have managed to get around all attempts to date.
-- Barbara Bailey, Tampa
We should have asked a few questions
We made it too easy. Before we let George Bush take away our rights, invade countries, and spend all our hard earned money, we should have asked a few questions. How did he make us believe that if we asked questions we would appear to be traitors? How did he make us believe that Iraq was somehow responsible for 9/11? How did he make us afraid of a country that was no more a threat to us than Canada? How did he convince the country to think that it was okay to invade a country as long as the leader was a jerk? If that is truly the case, he might want to beef up our homeland security.
-- Jeff Christian, Bradenton
Seek alternatives to drug prohibition
Re: Police unit pushes back against drugs, Nov. 22.
The headline was misleading. "Drugs" will never be pushed back as long as they remain illegal. As Capt. Marion Lewis of Tampa's Quad Squad aptly notes, "Drug dealing is a very lucrative business. As long as there is money to be made and a demand, they're going to be out there selling it." In other words, drug prohibition laws ensure that the problem will be never-ending.
Criminal prohibition is the exact opposite of how we deal with the two most dangerous and commonly abused drugs - alcohol and tobacco. These two drugs are legally distributed to adults who choose to use them responsibly while other laws protect the public from those who behave irresponsibly, i.e., driving while impaired or allowing minors' access to the drugs.
One wonders how long the residents of the targeted areas in Tampa and St. Petersburg will continue to turn to police for help in dealing with the very real problems related to the illegal drug trade. At the current pace in Tampa, almost 4,000 people a year will be given crippling lifelong criminal records thanks to drug prohibition. The ratios in St. Petersburg will be similar. Meanwhile none of the root causes that create demand for dangerous drugs are being adequately addressed, thus demand will remain constant. While drug abuse is a true problem, drug prohibition exacerbates rather than helps that problem.
Fortunately, there is a growing group of other police, judges and law enforcement officers who believe the best way to deal with these problems is to legalize drugs and take control of the trade from criminal gangs and cartels. They have formed together as Law Enforcement Against Prohibition - LEAP (www.leap.cc) Readers interested in smart alternatives to the current police-driven drug war should investigate LEAP and lend their support. As LEAP founder Jack Cole, a retired narcotics officer, notes, "You can overcome an addiction much easier than you can overcome a felony record."
-- Stephen Heath, Florida Office of LEAP, Clearwater
Where has Carter been?
Re: The novelty of Jimmy Carter, Nov. 27.
"I've been very disappointed in the media in the last year. Most of the media has been completely subservient to the White House because of that implied threat of being unpatriotic if you criticize."
So said Jimmy Carter in the above article. I've always admired Carter because of his humanity and good works since he left the White House, but it's easy to see why he was a one-term president. If the above quote is accurate, he had to be on another planet for the past three years. I've read a daily barrage of criticism of President Bush in the Times and other media since his election.
Perhaps Crawford Texas has a newspaper. If so, it would be the only part of the media to give President Bush a pass. Carter should expand his media access!
-- John Hungerford, Palm Harbor
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