Letters: DeSantis demeans public education in Florida — and its teachers

A derogatory attack on the professionalism of teachers came during a recent Tennessee educational conference, hosted by Dr. Larry Arnn, president of Michigan’s ultra-conservative Hillsdale College. In meeting with Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, Arnn said, “Teachers are trained by the dumbest parts of the dumbest colleges …" and that people in those positions have education degrees because they are “easy” and they “don’t have to know anything.”  

This pillar of far-right thinking has been adopted by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to denigrate Florida public school education. Such a demeaning view of teachers is used by the governor to lower teaching standards and address the ongoing teacher shortage.

Dedicated teachers are true public servants and the unsung heroes of the pandemic. Low pay and attacks on their professional integrity are some of the basic reasons teachers are leaving the profession. Instead of lowering teacher standards, the governor might consider raising teacher salaries to the national median of $65,420.

In politicizing education, DeSantis and his administration reflect their narrow views and dodge the main issue — that strengthening public education, supporting teachers and students requires money.

Antonio White, vice president of United Teachers of Dade, noted that if Republicans truly supported public education, “they would champion the success and well-being of Florida's children by expanding pre-K education, address shortages of teachers, nurses and guidance counselors, increase access to AP classes and career and technical education that lead to well-paying jobs while better equipping schools to teach critical thinking skills and address the spiraling rates of youth depression anxiety and suicide.”

White further points out that politicians are instead doing the opposite, banning books while demanding that teachers present “both sides” of Nazism, slavery and other historical atrocities. He added that they are also marginalizing and dehumanizing LBGTQ students, teachers and same-sex families.

The legendary actress Cicely Tyson said it best in her memoir, published shortly before her death in 2021: “Turning a blind eye to our history has not saved us from its consequences.”

Karen Adler, Jacksonville

Here we go again on taxes

Another piece of legislation is in the works involving U.S. federal income taxes.

There are strong arguments, pro and con, on both sides of the aisle. A great trivia question would be how many pounds (or should I say tons) of paper does it take to record all of our federal tax regulations?

I lived and worked in Hong Kong in the mid-1970s when it was a British Crown colony. Many very smart, very hard working and very clever Chinese businessmen ruled the economic roost. Over lunch, one of them showed me his personal tax return. If I recall correctly, it was just two pages long. His tax rate, like everyone else's, was 15 percent of his gross income — as simple as that.

It didn't matter if an expense was or was not tax-deductible because there were no personal tax deductions. These businessmen were by no means saints, and a few of them may now be spending eternity in the inner circles of business hell. But cheating on their personal income taxes was not one of those sins. As for British colonial tax auditors: I guess there were a few, but I never met any.  

Sam Heffner, Ponte Vedra Beach

Election police waste of tax dollars

On Nov. 4, 2020, Gov. DeSantis bragged about the efficiency and integrity of Florida’s election process. He repeated what many observers were saying at the time: “Why can’t the states be more like Florida?” Then, Trump’s stolen election narrative took hold in the Republican party. In response, DeSantis’s aspirations for higher office required that he insert himself into the election fraud conspiracy.

Although he has never publicly taken a position on Trump’s claims, DeSantis made a move that panders to the Trump base. Along with other irrational actions — like attacking Disney and punishing the prosecutor chosen by Hillsborough County voters — he proposed spending $5.7 million in tax dollars to create the Office of Election Fraud (later reduced by the legislature to $3.7 million).

Should we be proud of this decision? That agency has managed to identify 20 ineligible voters, all former felons who simply failed to navigate the complex process of restoration. That's about $185,000 expended per violator.

This new felony conviction will likely return them to prison and cost taxpayers more than $25,000 per incarceration per year. Unjustifiable waste of tax dollars for political posturing is fiscal insanity and violates conservative principles.

Steve Entman, Jacksonville

State's vaccine policies cost lives

Thank you for running the Aug. 22 article “DeSantis blamed for low child vaccine rate.” It’s important that voters know what a detrimental governor DeSantis has been for Florida. To allow children to get sick and die because you refuse to listen to real doctors and scientists is unconscionable.

It’s one thing to allow parents to make their own decisions on whether or not to get their own child vaccinated, but to actively block other parents’ access to the vaccine through state policies is immoral. We also cannot underestimate the impact that an anti-vaccine surgeon general and governor can have on vaccination rates by actively sowing distrust and anti-science narratives, which is costing us lives.

The numbers speak for themselves; as the article reported, Florida has one of the lowest vaccination rates for children under 5 and thus also has one of the highest hospitalization and death rates for that same group. Please do not vote for DeSantis in November — we need a governor who truly cares about us and our children.

Heather Montanye, Atlantic Beach

Bean’s creative campaign ad

I have to give a thumbs up to Aaron Bean's campaign commercial where, as a part time auctioneer, he gives himself 20 seconds to rattle off all the shortcomings of Joe Biden's time as president. He runs out of time but asks for another chance.  

His follow-up commercials are mundane — basic America and apple pie, Second Amendment, pro-life and never raising our taxes. Remember George H. W. Bush? That comment came back to bite him.  

To Bean's credit, to my knowledge, he has not invoked the "like Trump" mantra and (again, to my knowledge) has not been toting around a shotgun, semi-automatic rifle or even sporting a 9-millimeter on his hip in his campaign commercials like so many other candidates trying to look tough. My thought: If you need to have a gun in your campaign commercials, you are not really that tough.  

Even though I am now solidly in the blue column, I could vote for this guy if I was in his district.

Michael Connelly, Jacksonville Beach

Backyard dwellings bill needs more

The proposal before our city council to encourage small additional structures on already occupied lots seems like an easy choice. We assume all the structural requirements will be enforced, but we should insist on a few other non-negotiable requirements to be met:

• The new building must be well within the tolerance of the site sewage system, electrical capacity and water allowance.

• The building must not involve the removal of shade tree cover that protects the area from becoming a heat sink and lowers its oxygen level.

• Off-street parking must be included in the building plan.

• The entire plot of land on which structures are built must leave at least 50 percent uncovered and available for rain to percolate into soil to prevent adding to area flooding, thereby robbing the Florida aquifer of vital replenishment.

Sharon Scholl, Atlantic Beach

Dems improving the IRS

It is interesting that DeSantis and other Republicans are attacking Democrats for improving the IRS and making it easier to pay taxes. Surely they realize that everyone has an obligation to help pay for government services, such as the military and Homeland Security; energy and infrastructure; regulations to keep predators at bay; plus, general laws and rules we live by, as well as education, training and research.

Yellen and Biden have said over and over again that these increases will only apply to individuals with incomes above $300,000 per year and high-earning corporations. Perhaps what the opposition sees is that the quickest way to destroy our democracy is to starve it of support, which seems to be their goal.

Peter Bishop, Jacksonville

City helps dispose of old grill

I have been helping a relative who lives in Jacksonville do some needed spring cleanup. One of the last items was a worn-out barbecue grill. As a longtime T-U subscriber, I was aware that the contact phone number for the City of Jacksonville is 630-CITY.

One call to that number was answered by a positive, helpful lady who explained how to get rid of a non-working grill. On the day after the normal household garbage pickup, the grill was in the pickup location. The problem was solved and the old grill is gone.

Thank you, City of Jacksonville!

Paul Williams, Orange Park

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Letters: DeSantis demeans public education in Florida and its teachers