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FCAT's narrow focus is no way to educate our children

Test's graders need to be qualified

Re: 2 state senators want Winn fired over FCAT graders, June 17.

Let me get this straight. Education Commissioner John Winn doesn't think it matters who grades the FCAT. Sixty-four percent of the temporary graders hired by a private contractor lacked degrees or teaching experience in the FCAT subjects they were grading. Some of the graders were hair stylists and pizza delivery men!

Remember, this is the test that determines which children are retained in third grade, which students get to graduate from high school, which schools get fined, and soon, which teachers get more pay. Yet Winn cavalierly dismissed concerns about the qualifications of the graders, saying, "It's not the work experience that matters" and "there's no data that shows us that teachers perform any better than people with other backgrounds."

C'mon, Commissioner Winn. Does that mean it doesn't matter who reads your X-ray? Or who determines what's wrong with your car? If you can't see the ethical double standard here, you should look for another job.

Maryellen Mariani, Seminole

Keep the Internet the way it is

Re: Your Internet access is in Congress' hands, June 9.

Is there no limit to how high our legislators will lift their skirts for lobbyists these days? Now they want to deregulate the Internet just the way they did cable television several years ago. I don't know about you, but the "favor" they did for us tripled my cable bill and we have the utopian environment of 200-plus channels and nothing on.

Thanks, but I like the Internet just the way it is. Our (greedy) friends at the phone and cable companies want to create "tiers" of online service - this article's translation was excellent: the Tony Soprano business model.

Freedom parades in this country as a thin veil of what is really our enslavement to corporations, which by the way was handed to them on a silver platter by our elected officials for their own self interests (and that of their rich corporate friends). These are sad days indeed.

Carolyn Beardsley, St. Petersburg

Law draws hysterical attacks

Re: Flaws exposed in self-defense law, editorial, June 16.

Your editorial was an insult to any reader with common sense and some degree of knowledge about facts. Their are no reliable statistics showing that the "Stand Your Ground" law has actually caused one individual to shoot someone.

Even if someone tries to abuse the law, they are likely to be found out and punished. The near hysterical attacks on this law only show the lack of understanding of the reality of our world, or an agenda that has nothing to do with improving public safety. The law is a good law.

G.P. Martin, Clearwater

Ask to keep children safe

Re: National ASK Day.

Every state in our country will be promoting an important message on Wednesday, which is also the first day of summer. ASK Day promotes just one question; "Ask if there is a gun where your child plays or visits" before sending your child there. Just talking to your child about the dangers of firearms is not enough. Children are naturally curious. If a gun is accessible in someone's home, there is a good chance a child will find it and play with it!

If the answer is no, that is one less thing you have to worry about.

If the answer is yes, you need to make absolutely sure that all guns are stored unloaded and locked - ideally in a gun safe, with ammunition locked separately. Hiding guns is not enough. There are countless tragic stories of kids finding guns that parents thought were well hidden.

If there are any doubts about the safety of someone's home, you should invite the children to play at your house instead.

To learn more about the ASK (Asking Saves Kids) campaign, please visit www.paxusa.org or www.seanneswish.com.

Jeanne Caroline, president/founder, Seannes Wish Foundation, Largo

Handy help for terrorists

Re: Up north, it's a self check-in border, June 11.

Terrorists should find this article very helpful in providing them with explicit details of how they can slip into the United States from Canada by boat using the St. Lawrence River. No more worries about being greeted by a customs officer at the border!

As a further service to the terrorists, shall I assume that you also e-mailed a copy of this article to Al-Jazeera so they can translate it into Arabic for those Islamists who would have difficulty reading it in English?

Bob Lindskog, Palm Harbor

A cancer survivor, not a victim

Re: Enough of the cancer "battles," letter, June 12.

The letter writer is offended by the Times "relying endlessly on this cliché," of patients "battling" cancer. My heart goes out to the writer, who might be going through a heart-wrenching time with this awful disease.

Metastatic cancer is often a physically and mentally painful journey, which can lead to the decision to end treatment in favor of a time in which "quality of life" issues are most important.

In a lifetime, one in three people will be diagnosed with some form of cancer. To me, this is an alarming statistic. However, with the daily advances in medical research, more and more people are living full lives for many years.

For those of us who have been diagnosed with cancer, this gives us the hope that this disease might be moved from being a death sentence to a chronic illness, such as diabetes, heart disease and the like.

In the meantime, what I find offensive is being relegated to the status of cancer "victim." To me, the term "victim" implies a feeling of pity and hopelessness. I am proud to be a survivor from the time of diagnosis to the end of my life, however long or short a time that might be.

Judith S. Black, Oldsmar

Bishops fiddle with the liturgy

Re: Altered Mass language irks some, June 17.

Do the U.S. bishops have anything more important to accomplish that to disrupt the liturgy?

The number of Mass attendees is declining, the very (simple) basics of Catholicism are misunderstood, the number of men and women considering priesthood and religious service is declining, school are closing or being consolidated, parishes are shifting Masses due to dwindling manpower.

What do we address but verbiage!

Bishops, remember that Nero fiddled while Rome burned.

Edward Lamp, Tampa

Re: Progress on FCAT has federal caveat, June 15.

FCAT scores are up - yippee! Unfortunately, Florida's high school graduation rate is ranked last by the U.S. Department of Education. Reality uncovers political scams every time; you just need to pay attention.

What Gov. Jeb Bush's failed education policy has proved is that test scores can be improved by forcing teachers to concentrate on a small portion of what should be taught in our schools. While this is great for political photo ops and sound bites, anyone paying attention realizes it's terrible for our children.

What's next? Improve graduation rates by making the only requirement passing an FCAT test? Luckily, the governor's term will end before he can see how many people that would fool.

Dan Favero, St. Petersburg

[Last modified June 20, 2006, 11:06:00]