Pinellas teachers are undervalued and underpaid

Re: School district, teachers agree to tentative pay pact, May 13.

As a former teacher who retired in another state, I was appalled to read the terms of the proposed contract for Pinellas County teachers in your paper. The size of the raise, followed by the warning that it may be some time before employees will see raises again, shows just how little teachers are valued. I am sure the Board of Education would plead that there is no money for a larger raise, and of course the Legislature must bear a good part of the blame for lack of funds. That said, there is money in the budget. A budget is a setting of priorities. I would submit that teachers deserve to be a higher priority.

The Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association has also failed to represent teachers adequately. It can say that it negotiated a 2.7 percent pay increase for teachers, but as the article states, teachers will be using most of their pay raise to offset the increased cost of health care. The raise for a teacher earning $30,000 a year will result in a gross increase of about $3 per paycheck. Surely teachers deserve better than that.

The School Board and the administration should do more than pay lip service to their teachers. In the short term, they should sharpen their pencils and reallocate funds and trim waste so that more money can be made available. Then they should renegotiate the contract. In the long term, they should join with the teachers union to lobby more effectively for increased funding from the Legislature. Citizens need to get on board as well. They need to hold elected officials from the local to the highest levels accountable.

Teachers work day in and day out to do their very best to educate the young people of this county and prepare them to be productive citizens wherever they go. These teachers deserve better.

An asset to her school

Re: First year fulfilling for new teacher, May 17.

What a breath of fresh air to read about Angela Bolds, a former engineer who chose the rewards of teaching over her previous, higher-paying career. We need more teachers like her in the school system - ones that find teaching fulfilling and not just a paycheck. Bolds rose to the challenge of making math engaging and raising students' own expectations of their abilities. She is truly a special addition to her school.

The truth about teacher pay

Re: School district, teachers agree to tentative pay pact, May 13.

This story, although accurate, is extremely misleading regarding the true situation.

First, let me begin by saying I have been a Pinellas County middle school teacher for the past 15 years and have taught for a total of 17. Those of us who have 17 or fewer years of service all received less than the reported 2.7 percent salary increase. In addition, the added cost of health insurance premiums will actually leave me taking home less than I took home last year. Finally, the public should be aware that the pay of a teacher on my salary step has remained the same for 2002, 2003 and 2004 (the proposed contract).

I believe the public needs to be made aware of these facts so that people will support the proposed four-year referendum to increase teacher salaries and provide programs for Pinellas County students that the Legislature will not fund. The truth is there would have been plenty of money if Gov. Jeb Bush and the Legislature had not given tax breaks to big business at the expense of our average citizens.

There is already a serious teacher shortage, which has been exacerbated by the class size amendment. It is also true that we are not producing nearly enough teachers to fill our anticipated openings. The question then becomes: Who will teach our children?

Where is the separation?

I am a Christian, and I do not believe the phrase "under God" belongs in the Pledge of Allegiance to our country. According to our Constitution, there must be a separation of church (religion) and state (our country). If that phrase is in the pledge, where is the separation?

Mixing religion and politics

Re: Undermining AIDS prevention, May 18.

The Bush administration's attempt to turn religion into science is both irresponsible and dangerous. One's religion and belief system is personal, and there are as many belief systems as there are people, which is why any one belief system cannot dominate and dictate policy. I personally think religion is a man-made attempt to control the masses and has nothing to do with spirituality; however, this is my belief system, and that is why I would never attempt to make religion against the law.

It is a scientifically proven fact that condoms help prevent the spread of venereal disease and unwanted pregnancy. If it is Mr. Bush's belief that the use of condoms goes against God's will, then by all means he should not use them. However, this "belief" should not be visited on the rest of us and certainly should not be dictating policy, and it certainly isn't science!

The last time we mingled politics and religion, people got burned at the stake. There is a reason for the separation of church and state.

Some Democrats oppose abortion

John Leo's May 12 column (Catholic pols forgetting their faith) perpetuates a common misunderstanding. The Catholic Church's condemnation of abortion stems purely and simply from the Fifth Commandment: "Thou shall not kill."

The determination that the fetus and the embryo are humans is based on scientific findings, not on theological subtleties, as Leo suggests. In the absence of a "golden standard" of life as a reference for our policies and laws, we are compelled to adopt the most comprehensive definition of life. This must hold that life begins at conception and ends with brain death. In its DNA, the fecundated egg holds the full potential of a grown human being. To deny human status to the embryo means to decide at our whim who is and who is not human. The position that only people who are desirable are humans legitimizes, among other things, the destruction of children of the wrong sex, of demented older people and of individuals who have lost their independence because of disease or disabilities. Science, not religion, puts the burden of demonstrating that fetal and embryonic lives are not humans on the "prochoice" crowd.

Leo also asserts that no Democrat may aspire to an elected office without espousing a "proabortion" platform. He seems to ignore that a core of registered Democrats, including me, are very active in our opposition to abortion. We have a national organization with a Florida chapter.

Contradicting Christianity

I don't understand why conservative Christians align themselves with the Republican Party.

Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven," but the Republicans hold the poor in utter contempt.

Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God," yet the Republicans wage aggressive war, killing thousands of innocents.

Jesus said, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy," but the only mercy Republicans show is to big corporations and the rich.

The New Testament is full of Jesus' support of liberal ideas that the Republican Party rejects. Opposition to abortion is the main rallying point for conservative Christians under the Republican Party banner. While the collective Republican voice is loud and clear proclaiming opposition to abortion, when asked to support the mothers and babies of those who choose life, their silence is deafening.

Liberal Christians like me are opposed to abortion, too. I feel pregnant women should choose not to have an abortion, and I support those who choose not to. I also support federal funding to provide those mothers with the welfare they need for their babies and themselves. I think Jesus would, too.

A great loss for Florida

Jack Eckerd understood fully the social responsibilities of wealth. After committing $10-million to Florida Presbyterian College in 1971, he told Fortune magazine that it "was the best investment I ever made." His response to why a conservative business leader would contribute to a liberal college was prescient: "These bright students will be running things tomorrow. We must help them mature into competent and responsible leaders." America, Florida and Eckerd College have lost a giant. Fortunately, his legacy will continue to live among us.

Let's work together to fight Alzheimer's

More than 430,000 Floridians suffer from Alzheimer's disease - 10 percent of the nation's total. If we all live to age 85, as most of us hope to do, half of us will have the disease and the other half will be taking care of us. The disease affects all ethnic, racial, religious and political groups, and we do not yet have a cure.

The annual cost of Alzheimer's disease to the U.S. economy is estimated at $100-billion, not counting the unpaid care given by family members. With 10 percent of the patients, Florida is causing and suffering from 10 percent of the cost - $10-billion a year. Because of medical advances and our aging population, both the number of Alzheimer's patients and the costs will rise four-fold in the next 50 years if we do not soon make some scientific breakthroughs in understanding, diagnosing and treating this disease. Only research will solve the problem of Alzheimer's disease and rid us of the fear of this devastating brain disorder.

The Johnnie B. Byrd Sr. Alzheimer's Center and Research Institute is a statewide institute dedicated to making a world without Alzheimer's. Even before a grain of sand has been moved for its building, the institute has started on its mission by dispensing over $2-million in grants for Alzheimer's research and intervention throughout the state of Florida, from Pensacola to Jacksonville to Miami. The institute is independent of any university or other entity, is truly statewide and has advisers and collaborators from all over the world. The fact that the institute's building will be on the campus of the University of South Florida is a great privilege and advantage, for it will allow us to collaborate closely with other investigators at a great, nationally recognized research university. In addition, we will be located in the midst of a large and growing population that can participate in the institute's research and will benefit from it. Together, we can attack and solve the problem of Alzheimer's disease.

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