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Enrollments of schools will affect success

Re: Next elementary could be a whopper, Aug. 17 Times:

I find this proposal absolutely horrific. Competent studies made of successful elementary schools have uniformly discovered the most important factor for sound education: The single-most important factor was the size of the school. Schools with an enrollment of between 250 and 300 were uniformly the best schools. Combined with that was a principal who was engaged in the entire program and knew every student by name. Anybody who knows anything about education is familiar with these studies.

One would hope that when a school board employs a superintendent it would find a person who is abreast of recent educational research and who would advocate what is best for students. It is deeply disappointing to see Hernando County building structures that are designed to serve students and families so poorly. Elementary schools don't need to be huge enough to support a big football program.

Over thousands of years, the human family developed in clans of about 50 souls. Five hundred years ago, most humans never met more than 250 other humans during their entire lifetimes. A school of less than 300 students is an institution that exists on a human scale. A massive, impersonal warehouse is not conducive to education or social accountability.

Further, parents are intimidated by such a large institution and cannot become meaningfully engaged with the faculty in the education of their children.

In order to have a school this huge, children will be bused from great distances. This wastes dollars on transportation that should be spent on classroom instruction. Long-distance busing also lengthens the school day for children in nonproductive ways.

This school is an outrage and conflicts with everything we know about excellence in education. Thank God none of my children or grandchildren live here. God have mercy on the children who will be subjected to this inhumane monstrosity.

Newspaper wasted space on story about local hangout

Re: Where everyone knows your nickname, Aug. 21 Times:

This article is unbelievable. You not only wasted an entire page (including one half of the front page), you have sullied your image by allowing your reporter, Michael Kruse, and your newspaper to make light of drinking and driving, and I mean drunken driving.

First of all, those "boys" need to get a life. Whether you know it or not, Cheers was a situation comedy about losers. Get a hobby or do some volunteering instead of risking our lives every night.

Now that your buddy reporter has supplied the who, what, where and when of your nightly activities, including the make of your silver blue Nissan minivan, I'm sure our Sheriff's Office will now be waiting outside or down the road. Tell me, do you shoot for who drives home, or do you use the one who is the least drunk method?

Ruby Tuesday's on State Road 50 may be a fine restaurant, but again, their reputation is now infamous, which is quite different from famous. Doesn't the manager know that you can be held liable for letting patrons who start out about 8 p.m. drinking scotch and then switching to beer (in frosty mugs, of course) before finally leaving about 2 a.m. to get behind the wheel of death? Does the district manager know the corporation also can be held liable? That's about six hours of drinking, and you can't tell anyone that you didn't know they were over the limit. Can you spell lawsuit?

The St. Petersburg Times, the largest newspaper in Florida, thanks for nothing. Use your news space more wisely. There must be better things to write about, such as community achievements or personal victory stories. Then again, you did warn us of the situation, but I don't think that was your reporter's intent.

Letter on sexual offender carried no credibility

Re: With help, sex offenders really can be rehabilitated, Aug. 17 letter to the editor:

I cannot believe that Mike Bailey would have the nerve to write such a letter. Whether a sexual offender can or cannot be rehabilitated is subjective. I am sure there are some who may have changed their ways, however, I am very sure the majority have not.

My main concern is that this alleged sexual offender got away with a serious crime without any consequences for what he had done. It makes me sick to the stomach to now know that for all these years those two little boys had to live with what happened to them. Who took care of them? Who counseled them? Who calmed their fears? Did you, Mr. Bailey? I think not.

This person was never caught because no one turned him in and he was too much of a coward to do it. Those boys never knew their attacker. They had to live with the fear that he knew them. They had to live with the fear that he might return and do it again, or do worse. They never got justice for something they had no control over.

The worst part was that it was Christmas, a holiday so special for children. I would imagine that Christmas was never the same for them again.

Mr. Bailey, are you friends with this person? Do you live near him? Do you visit him on a regular basis? Do you ever talk to him, and I mean more than once or twice a year? Would you leave your children in his care? He may have sexually assaulted other children before and after the particular incident described. There is no way Mr. Bailey can know, and don't tell me his counselor is so certain.

Sexual offenders have proved time and time again how clever, cunning, manipulative and devious they can be. If he wanted to offend without Mr. Bailey knowing, I am sure he would. The only way we will ever know is if he is caught.

There are consequences for actions. He committed a horrible act for which he deserves a punishment. He may have had a horrible life with this on his conscience. I am happy for that, but the victims will never have closure because of this coward.

You stated that he knew enough to seek advice from an attorney before turning himself in to the police. He should have known better than to assault those two children. He never turned himself into the police because he was smart enough to come to you so he could escape justice and the punishment he really deserved.

Rehabilitation starts by taking responsibility for your actions and then seeking treatment so that the behavior will not continue. If he had turned himself in, he would have had a punishment. He then could have sought the same treatment you led him to. Then the justice system would be able to monitor him to help ensure he would not offend again. If he would have taken that path, then the letter you wrote would have held more credit than it does at this time.

I do not know how you can feel proud about referring this unknown sexual predator to help, knowing that two little lives may have been devastated because justice was not served to them.

Glad I am not a lawyer!

[Last modified August 25, 2005, 01:09:20]