Voice of the people: Quality education is the answer to student homelessness problem
Quality education is the answer to student homelessness problem
When the United States Census was completed in 2020, over 582,462 citizens were noted for having experienced homelessness in the United States. The Polk County Public School's Hearth Program identified 4,000 plus students currently without housing.
The idea of students under the age of 21 being forced to forage for a warm and safe place to sleep, be nurtured and fed, all while being expected to surpass daily academic challenges and the rigor of testing is a matter of crisis and community concern. According to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Annual Homelessness Assessment Reports to Congress, (2022), the numbers of unhoused students is surging.
One of the few options for students to help move beyond homelessness is academic achievement. Students are often told, the way out is through athletics, but encouraging students to excel in the classroom also leads to: Scholarships, higher education entrance, and access to community resources.
Vocational education also helps direct students toward employment with benefits and opportunities. Academic excellence with the help of tutors, compassionate resources, and mindfulness of the housing crisis can lead to economic empowerment for thousands of our youth. How we support our youth now impacts our future.
Shandale Terrell Ed.D., Lakeland
Bad news of biblical proportion
We read the newspapers and watch the television news and everything which is happening in the world today and it seems that there is never any good news.
Does this sound familiar? Global warming, wild fires, flooding, starvation, wars. COVID. In the Ledger on Tuesday, March 21, was this quotation by Ed Killer “87,141 Floridians killed, excluding more than 3,000 which the state Health Department did not count.”
And today, March 24, before I started this, I read this quotation in the Ledger by Ed Killer: “The Buzz Around Town: New mosquito thriving in 3 counties could spread, transmit disease.”
“And you shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: but all these things must come to past, but the end is not here yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in diverse places.”
If these words don’t sound familiar to you, it may be because this quotation is in Matthew 24: 6 and 7 in the King James Bible. These words were spoken by Jesus over 4,000 years ago.
Dorothy Costine Sawyer, Lakeland
Death penalty indicative of imperfect justice system
Letter writer, Sally Hassett, is pro-life and an advocate of the death penalty. [Letters: Being pro-life and believing in the death penalty is possible, 3/26/2023.] It is possible to hold both beliefs simultaneously, but it is as wrong as sin itself. Why?
The reason it's wrong is because our justice system is imperfect, mistakes are made and innocent people are convicted of crimes that they did not commit. For example, the Innocence Project has helped exonerate 241 victims/defendants who have spent 3,754 years in prison (average of 15 1/2 years each), of which 194 were freed with DNA evidence.
What we don't know is this: how many factually innocent people have we already executed?
Granted, the evidence is some cases is crystal clear, the defendant is guilty. But we can't know that ahead of time. So, the only way to avoid killing an innocent person is to abolish the death penalty altogether. Life in prison is in itself a harsh punishment. Some famous words come to my mind: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
Richard Sutherland, J.D., Lakeland
Current administration ruining America's future
Is our current government purposely overwhelming the U.S. economy which creates systemic failure, economic crisis and social chaos thereby destroying capitalism and our country? Because that's what's happening with this administration's anti-FreeMarkets Constitutional republic, while big money special interest groups have unleashed the greatest border crisis in U.S History.
So, American taxpaying citizens connect the dots and recognize this as the most scandal ridden administration in American history. It certainly and unfortunately questions, just what is America's future?
Will we slide into socialism, or will Americans stand up and rebut this changing of our country? Let's come together and rebuild our founding fathers 200 plus centuries old Republic back to its former greatness. Vote to bring back a free capitalist history making American dream for all, where a "Bipartisan Congress" represents and speaks for we the people.
Americans, we have a choice in November 2024. So, what will it be AMERICAN citizens? Socialism, Communism, Marxism, Globalism OR our Founding Fathers centuries old FreeMarkets Capitalist Constitutional Republic.
How's hope and change working for America today? Stand strong American Patriots, unite and give government control back to the people supporting our Constitutional Freedoms of Independence, Liberty, and Justice for all. God Bless America!
Walt Back, Lakeland
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Voice of the people: Quality education is the answer to student homelessness problem
