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Friday's letters: Break cycle with parenting classes

 
Published March 23, 2017

District fails to deliver for students | March 15, editorial

Break cycle with parent training

Let's put the blame for failing students where it really belongs: with poor parenting or lack of parenting. If a child enters school and has never been read to, if he or she has never been taught respect for others, if that child doesn't understand discipline (sitting still for more than two minutes, having listening skills), that child is at a severe disadvantage — one that is almost impossible to overcome. Multiply this child by 25 or 30 and think what a teacher has to deal with.

I'm not implying that every child will have all these problems, but enough will so that the classroom atmosphere is not conducive to teaching or learning. The best teacher is forced to be a police officer or referee. Also remember that the teacher has a student for a few hours a day. The rest of the time the child is with a parent who may be, for whatever reason, unable or not interested enough to help him or her with homework, with reinforcing what the child may have learned in school that day.

The teacher can't do the job alone. The system is broken, and charter schools are not the answer. They favor the well-to-do, and in less affluent areas have been shown to have poorer results than public schools. Constant testing forces the teacher to teach to passing the next test, not to enabling a student to grasp concepts that encourage learning.

We need to invest in classes for parents who themselves need the very skills they expect the teacher to instill in their children. We need to break this vicious cycle and invest in good public education — not in charter schools, which also threaten the separation of church and state upon which this country was founded.

Rosalie Cohen, St. Petersburg

A sick plan for health care | March 23, editorial

Insurance made affordable

I would like to share my experience. In spite of maintaining a very healthy lifestyle, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer 14 years ago at the age of 45. I had surgery and they found a few malignant tumors. I survived. I had insurance through my work and some savings, so I was able to pay for my medical attention.

Two years ago I resigned from my job. I was happy to discover I was able to get health insurance since the Affordable Care Act forced the insurance companies to waive my pre-existing condition and I did not have to pay an exorbitant premium because I was a cancer survivor. With the new GOP proposed health care plan, my subsidies will be reduced from $10,000 to $4,000. I cannot afford that. I will lose the insurance.

Millions of Americans, I think, share my circumstance and will lose coverage so the GOP can give tax breaks to the wealthy.

I urge Congress to say no to repeal/replace of the ACA. Health care should be a right at birth and not a privilege. This is not a crazy idea: Any other developed country in the world recognizes this fact.

Martha Guzman, Wimauma

Fix it, don't throw it out

I do not know what it is like to have no health care insurance. I can only imagine. My family members and I have been adequately, consistently and fortunately covered and treated over the years.

Here is one solution, however unsatisfactory, for the uninsured: My friend turned to the emergency room when he had a catastrophic illness that left him with tens of thousands of dollars of debt. He sincerely paid what he could but had to pass on the larger part of the cost to others in one way or another. It is likely that he and many other uninsured people delay attending to health issues, necessitating a visit to the ER eventually. At the worst, they can lose their lives before their time.

I hope and fervently pray that the good people in our government find some compassion for the millions who have gained or have yet to gain health care insurance. I hope that the good people in the general citizenry selfishly pushing to weaken or repeal the Affordable Care Act hear the insureds' testimony and pleas of the many still uninsured to soften their hearts.

Obamacare is deficient, but it can be fixed. Do not throw it out in toto and then replace it with a tepid, inadequate plan causing millions to lose their health insurance and to make it unaffordable for many more. That would be unconscionable.

Victor Graziano, Gulfport

Environment losing a layer of protection? March 18

Put the focus on science

President Donald Trump's first war has been declared. It is against science. He has been trying to take down the data on the EPA website since his inauguration. This data is used worldwide to study the health, safety and future of our planet. Researchers have been trying to collect this data and save it, as it has always been available previously. Now the new budget plan will effectively cripple this agency, preventing studies that are important to our day-to-day lives. This includes research on flooding, fires and hurricanes.

Trump's new budget also proposes cuts to the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including cuts for biomedical research and public health. These agencies oversee most of the nation's research on disease and treatment.

Please call your representatives and tell them that these are important programs that need to be funded. Also consider joining the March for Science on April 22 in Washington, D.C., or locally.

Ann Jamieson, Tarpon Springs

Budget boosts defense | March 17

Program can be a lifesaver

I have been a Meals on Wheels volunteer for 10-plus years. Every Thursday, a colleague and I bring meals to 10 to 15 clients. In the time I have been doing this, rarely have I seen any person receiving the food who did not need Meals on Wheels; for some of our clients it is life-sustaining. The food meets the dietary requirements, those on grants are screened for eligibility, most of the food is delivered by volunteers, and the cost is less than $6 per meal. The budget office needs to rethink the claim that this program is no longer needed.

Walter Jaap, St. Petersburg