School board's big mess; Biden's big bills: Letters to the editor, April 2, 2023

School board's failures

The newly elected Brevard School Board is now on its third school superintendent since November. The problem, therefore, might not be the superintendents.

Board Chair Matt Susin and new members Gene Trent and Megan Wright have so far shown an impressive capacity to destroy, but not a smidgen of any ability to build.

Gerard S. Harbison, Melbourne Beach

DeSantis' immature actions

I write regarding the March 25 article titled "Florida NAACP calls for travel advisory over DeSantis policies; governor calls it 'a joke.'"

It is very telling that instead of trying to refute the proposition advanced by the Florida NAACP, DeSantis simply tries to make fun of their effort to show Florida as it is. Any decent politician would have immediately refuted the basis for the NAACP's article, whether the refutation is true or not. This is why DeSantis will never become president; he doesn't realize how immature his actions really are.

Bob McLeran, Merritt Island

Writer's disdain comes through

With regard to the March 27 guest column "American racism is not a theory, it is historical," the writer, a “non-partisan, who happens to lean conservative,” places himself, with only those credentials, above the din of the partisan fray from which lofty perch he presumes to share with us the results of his 11 years of study, as he says, “in his dotage,” of the true nature of racism in the United States. Those credentials seem questionable at best.

There follows a litany of people and institutions the writer holds in disapproval if not disdain. In his first paragraph, indeed his first sentence, we see his unhappiness with Gov. DeSantis. Paragraph 2 presents his dissatisfaction with “28 elected Republican senators and 85 (elected) Republican representatives.” Having earlier told us that he “trusts that everyone who reads the letters on this page is aware of the dictates that our governor shoves down the throats," he implicitly adds to his disdain list all of those who voted for them.

And he does not even like Hillsdale College.

One can only wonder from which direction our writer “leans conservative.”

Jack Lee, Viera

More: You should be outraged by DeSantis' assault on academic freedom | Opinion

Allow women bodily autonomy

Our state legislature is working hard on a bill that will ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. Obviously, the transparent intent is to totally ban abortions in Florida since most women cannot positively determine whether they are pregnant after a few weeks and, if they are unable to raise the child, make arrangements to terminate the unwanted pregnancy.

The thought of abortion is difficult for most women in moral, religious, societal and financial terms. It is even more harrowing for those who are not sure whether the father of the baby will be around to participate in her/his upbringing, and, if single, whether she will be able to provide emotionally and financially. Six weeks may not allow to solve such a dilemma but the current 15-week period is usually sufficient.

No man has ever gone through such an emotional rollercoaster and will never understand what a woman considering abortion is going through. Such decisions should be left to the women and not to our male-dominated legislature. Our politicians should stop legislating morality and drop macho posturing – just let women make the most difficult decisions of their lives themselves.

Renata Charminski, Indian Harbour Beach

Church, state and people of faith

What is the proper relationship of church and state in this country? Upon what basis should government establish its governing principles?

The First Amendment to the Constitution declares: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

In the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, it says: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The Bill of Rights tries to enumerate the primary ones, but the concept is much broader.

The Declaration then concludes: “And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance upon the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.”

So, the very foundation of our nation was the concept that we, being creatures of God, were given by Him, certain inalienable rights and He instituted government (Rom. 13), primarily, to protect those rights.

Secular resistance keeps sliding toward removing religion from any influence in the governance of the country. But without the concept of inalienable rights, we lose the very foundation of our liberties.  Governance by human nature is naturally corrupt, leaving us at the whims of a Godless secular bureaucracy.

Americans historically love our freedoms. To retain our foundational God-given rights, we must elect leaders that value the source of those rights, people of faith.

Ed Taylor, Satellite Beach

School daze, school daze

I recently read the Florida Legislature is considering lengthening the school year. Shouldn’t they be shortening it since the schools now have fewer books to read?

Donald Thomas, Melbourne Beach

Life in 'Floridupe'

Our governor and other elected officials are claiming our education system should teach students "how" to think rather than "what" to think.

Hogwash. They want all of us to think how they think, period.

Floridians cheer as these politicians bully and indoctrinate, refusing to look years down the road at the massive damage and cost we will incur. Yes, while they dupe us with their screaming hyperbole about education, College Board, Disney, "woke" and CRT, private Christian schools that do not follow our ridiculous state testing and IEP guidelines will receive our tax dollars.

While they dupe us, our infrastructure and waterways are in disrepair. While they dupe us, home insurance companies are robbing us blind (their legislation will only help an already corrupt industry, fail to reduce our rates, and hurt people making legitimate claims). While they dupe us, our First Amendment rights are being threatened. While they dupe us, Floridians cannot afford to live here.

Our governor and other elected officials are claiming that our education system should teach students "how" to think rather than "what" to think. Hogwash. They want all of us to think how they think, period.

But good news: We will be able to openly carry guns, non-degreed military personnel will be teaching our kids, women's rights will step back 60 years, and the First Amendment will only apply to those who do not question politicians.

And our governor? He will have moved on, never suffering one iota for all the damage he has helped create.

Amy Kaminski, Melbourne

Thanks a lot, President Biden

Joe Biden definitely needs to be congratulated. He has accomplished what almost no president has accomplished in almost 100 years - he has likely removed the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency.

As places we now need to buy oil from, like Saudi Arabia and other Middle East countries, start to trade oil in Chinese yuan,  could it be that America will now find their dollars aren't so valuable any more in many parts of the world?

Yep, after almost 100 years of America being the world's "bank" of sort, the U.S. dollar may no longer be of much use in any foreign purchases. And of course Biden is still sending U,S. taxpayers' hard-earned income to fund things like the WHO and World Bank while borrowing more from the Chinese to pay bills.

So a big congratulations to Mr. Biden on accomplishing what no president in almost 100 years has done.

Ilene Davis, Cocoa

Is anyone listening to us?

In reading FLORIDA TODAY's March 26 opinion page, I noticed that some of the writers recommended to write to the governor, state senators and representatives about different issues.

A while ago I too, did just that, thinking it would make a difference. I put in the effort and unfortunately, I received no response. Maybe others will have a better experience with their correspondence.

Additionally, I made some phone calls, but once again, my messages were never returned.

On June 12, 2022, FLORIDA TODAY printed my letter which offered a suggestion for reducing gun violence. It is ironic that we are spending so much time on book banning because our concern is about the safety of our children; however, I do not know of any book that has killed a child.  Maybe if it is thrown at the right angle with the right amount of force, it will cause some physical damage.

On the other hand, there is no debate that guns will definitely kill — children, adults and animals.  We continue to read about mass murders. Just a few days ago, six people died in a shooting at a Tennessee school.

If the governor, state senators and representatives read this column, please do not hesitate to contact me through LinkedIn.com — I would be interested in having a conversation about this topic and exploring whether my suggestion would work for reducing gun violence.

As for banning books, both of my children are products of Brevard Public Schools. They followed the required curriculum, and somehow became successful adults.

Anita Moore, Merritt Island

More: Legislators should hear what we have to say — all of it | Opinion

Because we can ... vote you out

The recent guest column by Pamela Castellana was eye-opening in that it exposed the rot endemic within Brevard and state politics.

The squelching of dissenting opinions in public meetings “because we can” is a hallmark of fascism. It seems Ms. Castellana was attempting to enlighten the audience about the dismal record of the Florida educational system and highlighting the concerns of ordinary children in public schools who are much more concerned about someone entering their school with an assault-type weapon and murdering them than what books are available in the school library -- but she was muted.

According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, Florida has the worst learning rate in the nation. Not next to last. Last. The Republican solution: Subvert the class size amendment of 2022. Their solution for stopping mass murder of students in school: More guns and permitless concealed carry, no training needed. I guess banning books seen as "woke" is a top priority for DeSantis, Fine, Altman and their ilk. Do a good job, gentlemen, because this material was what you were educated with when you were in school, and we certainly don’t want our future generations growing up like you.

Hopefully the voters will get wise to your nefarious ways and vote you out the next go-round. Because we can.

Ed Dean, Merritt Island

China's watching, waiting

China isn't America's biggest threat — yet.

As America's uninformed, misinformed, naïve voters and the far-left politicians they elect continue to feed off each other, China waits patiently at the ready as the feeding only worsens.

Melvin Deere, Melbourne

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Gov. DeSantis' immature 'joke': Letters to the editor, April 2, 2023