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Police do more than letter writer knows

Re: Real criminals still on the loose, Oct. 20 letter to the editor by Christian Campbell.

I hope you will never be in a life-threatening situation and need a police officer, Mr. Campbell. But if you ever should, please call the state Department of Transportation.

I don't know if you have children and, if you do, what they, or you, do for a living. I am also curious as to what you and your children wear to work.

My son goes to work wearing a bulletproof vest and a belt that holds a gun, knife and handcuffs. Yes, Mr. Campbell, my son is a police officer and until you have walked in his shoes you are not in a position to pass judgment on what our law enforcement officers do every day.

Many years ago in my hometown, a 5-year-old girl was killed by a driver going 5 mph over the speed limit. Maybe one day a life will be saved because a police officer gave a ticket to someone going 7 mph above the speed limit.

Has it occurred to you, Mr. Campbell, that this ice cream truck might start earlier in the evening and by the time it gets to your neighborhood it's 8 p.m., which, by the way, is not late? It might be a good idea for you to buy an ice cream and chat with the man. It might very well be a man just selling ice cream and trying to earn some money. Also, ice cream trucks have to go very slow because you usually find children around, or running toward, one.

Your letter, Mr. Campbell, appeared on the same day as did this headline, 17 charged in two-county drug targeting. I hope that headline gives you a little insight as to what our police officers do every day.

Teachers must earn higher pay

Re: Teachers' pay should become county priority, Oct. 24 letter to the editor.

Here we go again. A letter advocating teachers' pay be increased because Hernando County is one of the lowest paying counties in Florida.

That's like saying all McDonald's workers need to get more money because they make less than other service sector employees. Such a move would fail unless we demand something in return like:

1. better service, and/or

2. better portions, and/or

3. better quality food.

The same applies to teachers. How much better than the rest of the state are all our students, not just a cherry-picked grade or group? How much have our scores improved compared to all other counties? How many "A" schools do we have compared to others. And, just as important, how many schools climb or decline in rank every year compared to other counties?

It serves no purpose to have two schools climb a notch one year and then two schools go down a notch the next. You've gotten nowhere in two years.

The same day in a different part of the newspaper, there was a story about the disparity between boys and girls, and whites and Hispanics, related to their reading scores (National scores show troubling state trends). The numbers were not good.

No data was provided as it relates to Hernando, but I think it is quite telling we've heard nothing from our school superintendent. Don't you think if our teachers were doing better than other counties someone would be standing up and defending them? Quite the deafening silence if you ask me.

Or will they try blaming parents? If so, that's like having the manufacturer of an expensive, but defect-laden, product blaming the consumers for bad sales numbers.

Let me be clear: I have no problem with taxpayers paying teachers more money if they deserve it and have a track record of success and improvement. Show me and all the rest of us the numbers. But until we see that, no way!

I've yet to see proof in any studies that if we pay teachers more without demanding better results, a pay raise actually acts as an incentive to improve student performance in and of itself. Demanding no accountability only means the government's hands are digging deeper into our pockets and giving us nothing in return.

[Last modified October 26, 2005, 00:55:32]