Opinion: A+ plan has been successful in helping schools

Though the letter writer and I share a commitment to quality education and shared accountability to ensure Florida's children get that education, she misrepresents the facts about our A+ plan and specifically how well it's working across our state, particularly in underperforming schools.

The writer first takes me to task for the School Recognition Award program. I would point out that this was first initiated in 1998, before I became governor, and that it was designed by more than 70 public school teachers of the year representing each of Florida's 67 counties. Whatever its origins, though, there is no question I strongly support extra dollars being sent to our highest rated and most improved schools. In fact, we've taken that initial $5.4-million annual commitment and increased it to $80-million.

The reason for this support stems from my visits to more than 200 schools while I was running for office. Again and again I heard from public school teachers, administrators and SAC members like the writer that what our schools really needed was a way to bypass the red tape and micromanagement at the state and district levels, get the money directly to the schools and let them decide, based on their unique needs and challenges, how best to spend it.

I listened to those voices, the A+ plan was formulated with that same vision, and it is working. The number of Florida public schools receiving an "F" grade has decreased from 78 in 1998-1999 to only four in 1999-2000, with only two schools repeating their "F" grade, thereby making the students at Bibbs and Dixon in Pensacola eligible for Opportunity Scholarships.

Also, money is flowing to those schools that most need it, and I'm not just referring to those schools that improved by a letter grade or more and thus received an extra $100 per pupil. Even those "D" and "F" schools that did not improve received more per pupil in operating funds under the A+ plan than did "A," "B" and "C" schools. And Bibbs and Dixon received 40 percent more funding per pupil the first year Opportunity Scholarships were utilized.

I hope the letter writer continues her support of the public school system. But she's not doing any of her fellow residents any favors by misrepresenting the A+ plan or ignoring its clear successes.
-- Jeb Bush, governor, Tallahassee

Ticket offerings are questionable

Re: School Board member fumes over ticket snub, Jan. 20.

Alas, another publicly elected official is upset that the National Football League has not offered him/her the opportunity to purchase tickets to the "big game." Have any of our public officials considered that the NFL is a for-profit corporation and the offering of tickets to public officials has a purpose -- to seek cooperation from the public official and possibly special benefits for the NFL.

The opportunity to buy these tickets was not offered to the general public from which the NFL cannot seek "favors." Although many of our public officials stated they have accepted the tickets and sold them at face value to friends, it doesn't make the receiving of the tickets any less onerous.

If private corporations such as the St. Petersburg Times accepted the tickets, this is an arms-length business transaction between two for-profit corporations and is not as dangerous as publicly elected officials doing the same thing.

Any public official who has accepted the tickets should notify the public and declare who ultimately wound up with the tickets and certify that they were transferred for the face value consistent with the law. Never again should our public officials cater to a for-profit corporation, including the Buccaneers and the Devil Rays, and expect the general public to turn a blind eye to these transactions that certainly cast doubt on any official actions public officials take toward these sporting entities.
-- Ron Frankel, St. Petersburg

Not a good reason for outrage

Since Pinellas School Board chairman Tom Todd is familiar with education, let me inform him that not being offered Super Bowl tickets is not a good example of something to be outraged about. We call it a "non-example." Good examples include:

Having 30-plus students in a classroom.

Having an advanced degree and making comparatively substandard pay.

Having Jeb Bush offer to give new teachers $1,000 one week, then telling us the next week he wants to cut money for pay raises.

Pushing away homeless people to preserve Tampa's image for the Super Bowl.

Paying $400 for a ticket.

Any questions?
-- Jim Reed, teacher, St. Petersburg

Forestry doesn't always help forests

Re: Our forests are ever changing, letter, Jan. 12.

The letter writer criticized your Dec. 26 editorial Protecting our forests as propaganda and filled with untruths. He went on to lay out the most distorted bunch of misinformation I have ever seen in one place.

Should we believe someone just because he used to teach forestry? Not if we understand that after World War II the large timber companies, faced with a postwar building boom, funded university forestry schools with the understanding that they would teach a curriculum designed to prepare employees, foresters who could efficiently access and harvest timber and grow new trees. There was no profit in educating foresters on the values of biodiversity, water quality, wildlife habitat, fisheries, recreation and overall forest health. Forestry school graduates knew each other and interacted over time to create a network that disregarded environmental values in favor of timber production. This assault on our forests culminated in a binge of clear-cutting that peaked 10 years ago, a date the letter writer conveniently uses as a benchmark to compare with timber volume today.

He would have us think that old growth is merely a stand of old trees that are near death and worthless except for lumber. Important characteristics of old growth include trees of varying ages, a multistory canopy, numerous dead trees on the ground, dead standing trees, logs in streams, considerable shade, etc. Many species of wildlife require old growth for part of their life cycle. The purest water we have measured occurs in old growth forests. We are down to less than 5 percent of the old growth we had in 1776.

The Times' editorial was absolutely correct when it stated that most Forest Service roads have been built only to access timber that was subsequently clear-cut. Sadly, the taxpayers often lost money on timber sales because the roads cost a good deal more than was received in payment for trees. It's called a "deficit sale." Many of these roads have been closed to vehicles because they reduce the integrity of wildlife habitat and the silt from erosion and vehicle traffic harms fish populations.

In the industry's typical short-term view, fire was a non-profit event and merely seen as inventory reduction. Any of the many benefits we now know about fire were ignored and Smokey Bear became a hero. The emphasis on fighting fire is the reason our low elevation and non-wilderness forests are fuel heavy and vulnerable to unnatural high intensity fires. This high fuel loading has nothing to do with preservationist policies and everything to do with decades of unnatural fire suppression. The forests, after all, were doing quite nicely before man arrived on the scene.
-- Robert D. Stone, St. Petersburg

Scooters are dangerous

This is in regard to the twin brothers who were hit by a car while riding their scooters in the street. I just read where one of the brothers died from his injuries. The other kid was extremely lucky.

I have seen numerous articles about how dangerous these "toys" are, yet nothing is being done (apparently) to either ban their sale or control their legal use.

Now I understand that adult-sized versions of this scooter are being made and sold. My question is "why?" These vehicles are proven to be dangerous!

I hope that responsible parents who read these articles on the recent scooter accident would at least keep an eye on their kids when they use these things.
-- Steve Baetzner, Largo

For safety, just follow the rules

Re: The push for scooter safety, Jan. 23.

The problem is not the scooter. It's a lack of common sense.

I have three children who received scooters at Christmas. I would have ranked just below the Grinch and Ebenezer Scrooge if they hadn't been sitting under the tree that morning.

Before my kids took those scooters outside for a spin, I sat them down and laid down the rules. I stressed the importance of using all safety precautions. I gave them the "helmet and pads" rule and the "sidewalk rule."

The rules aren't followed? They lose their scooter for a while. It's as simple as that.

Look, any time you're operating any type of vehicle -- motorized or not -- it stands to reason that some safety rules need to be followed. Those who don't follow the rules are just accidents waiting to happen.
-- Frank Chatraw Jr., Largo

Could tragedy have been avoided?

Re: Son charged with shooting, Jan. 9.

Why is it that when members of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill read a story like the one about the man who shot and killed his father and then shot and mortally wounded his mother, that we all hasten and heighten our reading of it because we "sensed" that this would be about a person with mental illness. 1. Was it that he was an adult man still living with his elderly parents?

2. Was it that the neighbors knew he often fought with his parents?

3. Was it the unemotional way the shooter went to a neighbor's, called 911 and "calmly" awaited the arrival of the police?

4. Was it the methodical placement of the gun and the textbook surrender to the deputies.

6. Was it that neighbors never saw "him do anything" or "work."

7. Was it that "he was a really quiet person?"

7. Was it that the neighbor identified him as a "weirdo" and said he looked "strange?"

8. Was it that he "confessed" over the phone?

9. Was it that he had no prior criminal record?

No, it wasn't any one of the known circumstances. But, taken all together, they were tell-tale clues that led us to one conclusion: mental illness.

Now, the criminal justice system takes over. Will it be: insanity, incompetence or a guilty verdict? We will follow the story with saddened interest because no matter what the verdict is -- three lives ended or changed forever. Most of us will all have to wait for this to play out in the courts and press. Others have already made up their minds: death penalty.

Could this incident have been prevented? Although there are a lot of unanswered questions surrounding this incident, the most obvious answer is that this might have been prevented if proper intervention had occurred, probably years ago. Didn't anyone living nearby suspect anything? Didn't the Krauses ever mention their problem? Didn't they seek treatment, support or knowledge?

This is one of those critical incidents that periodically occurs and raises numerous questions. It seems it never changes or improves.
-- Donald G. Turnbaugh, NAMI (National Alliance for the Mentally Ill), Palm Harbor

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