Florida tests the joy of reading right out of its students

The joy of reading

Florida’s education system is vastly underperforming | Perspective, Jan. 8

Billy Townsend’s illuminating essay on Florida’s studying fee failures isn’t any shock to educators. Chasing check scores since 2005 has led to relentlessly forcing younger students to learn numerous brief articles after which having to write down brief response comprehension questions on the article — all in the identify of check preparation. Would you end reading this newspaper in the event you needed to write a response to each article you learn?

We are educating kids to hate reading. And if that begins in third grade, think about how they really feel about that biology guide in tenth grade. We want to show kids to get pleasure from reading at house and in class by permitting a while to learn with out the stress of check preparation. We want grownup volunteers to have kids learn to them one-to-one at college. We want corporations who can provide one-hour paid go away every month for workers to volunteer reading at close by colleges. And we have to thank academics, mother and father, grandparents, aunts and uncles who assist kids construct a lifelong love of reading by displaying them the way to uncover and skim attention-grabbing books and magazines.

Lorena Grizzle, Seminole

A knife at an open carry struggle

Floridians, be ready to lock and load — or duck | Column, Jan. 8

I beloved Daniel Ruth’s column about the pending laws to permit “open carry” with out a allow. The solely downside: Not everybody can afford a gun. So to assist struggle crime they need to embody giant knives, hatchets, baseball bats and an occasional damaged beer bottle as different varieties of “open carry” whenever you go into the grocery store and concern in your life.

George Alexander, Wesley Chapel

Guns and vehicles

Practical steps to end gun tragedies | Editorial, Jan. 11

I commend the Editorial Board’s rational method to firearm violence. Allow me to increase this. To the left we discover bans proposed, by no means thoughts that this could influence solely a fraction of weapons in circulation and could be an imposition solely on the lawful. To the right, we see paranoia, by no means thoughts that the want for self-defense is vastly exaggerated and its execution is fraught. I urge two priorities. First, the media ought to take the lead in busting these polar myths. Irrational concern of restrictions and delusions of self-defense each drive insensible practices. Both put extra weapons in circulation. Second, we should distinguish the lawful from the illegal. With one other deadly machine, the vehicle, we’ve got the template: licensure, registration and insurance coverage. Licensure and registration allow regulation enforcement to give attention to disarming scofflaws. Insurance premiums work higher than regulation in incentivizing cheap numbers, sorts and storage provisions for lawful possession.

Pat Byrne, Largo

I handled categorised data

Biden was ‘surprised’ authorities data had been discovered at outdated workplace | Jan. 11

I used to be a primary lieutenant in the Air Force, reporting on to the base commander at a extremely delicate and really distant spy base throughout the top of the Vietnam and Cold Wars. I had all the acceptable safety clearances. Confidential, secret and top-secret paperwork had been in laborious copy kind and saved in 5 particular safes in locked rooms. A senior NCO and I had been the solely ones who had the mixtures. Classified paperwork could possibly be learn by solely people who had a “need to know.” A file was saved when all paperwork had been eliminated, returned and by whom. The paperwork had been examined in designated settings. During my yr at this distant project, we couldn’t account for one doc. This prompted an exterior investigation. We had been all completely questioned. The investigation concluded that the lacking doc had been unintentionally destroyed. What I discover drastically disturbing is the obvious carelessness by our political infrastructure that enables for categorised paperwork to go lacking seemingly routinely by neglect, carelessness or purposefully. In uniform, had I been equally so careless in dealing with categorised paperwork, I might have confronted severe penalties. After current occasions, I discover it drastically worrisome that so many in our authorities, not in uniform, untrained or not certified to have entry to categorised information merely don’t care or know the way to deal with it. Perhaps, too many paperwork are categorised? But for positive, there are dozens of elected representatives who ought to by no means see a categorised doc nor obtain a categorised briefing.

Albert C. Hine, Seminole

Congressional make-believe.

Congress unable to dam Santos | Jan. 11

George Santos is Exhibit A of why Americans dwindling religion in Congress is so obvious. Santos’ “resume embellishment” employs some whoppers together with the fabrication of his school diploma (which he has none) nor was he employed by Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. He additionally lied about being Jewish and a descendant of Holocaust survivors. Santos does admit to overstatement of his resume and including “we do stupid things in life.” I consider that he’s one cause why voters’ approval of Congress is simply above telemarketers.

George Chase, St. Pete Beach