Positive uses for predictive data | Column, Dec. 4

Track children for the right reasons

As an elementary classroom teacher and then a volunteer in a kindergarten classroom, there were many times that I thought and said, “That child will be in jail by the time he or she is 15 years old.” My next thought was, Why don’t we track that child and provide help to prevent that unhappy event? At the beginning of my career, teachers graded the yearly end-of-the-year tests and then analyzed the results to improve instruction. We were trusted. We were trustworthy. We had control. Modern testing is much more efficient. The test data of modern times is used more as a weapon against teachers and schools than a tool to make improvements. The motive for collecting data is important.

Ann Whitehead, Bartow

Bipartisan bill would bring overdue relief | Dec. 3

One good thing

Yes, the airlines are an essential business and the government needs to support them in the next or current COVID-19 relief bill. But it is nice to see the airlines currently treating its passengers as customers again, not like cattle to do with what they want. If the airlines survive, and I hope they do, I hope they will continue the customer relationship as they are currently doing?

Timothy E. Wohlfiel, City

Not all cops | Letters, Dec. 4

Good cop, bad cop

This letter writer states that it is up to the Florida Legislature to write laws protecting citizens of their communities from “bad cops.” I say, bull droppings. It is up to the police to protect the citizens. This means no longer do the “good” police get to turn their back on the “bad” police violating the very laws that protect them. When all good cops weed out the bad ones, then there will be no need for people to run from the police, except, of course, if they have committed a crime.

Herbert Belcher, Seffner