I know something about teaching

We want teachers to know that union membership is optional — and what it costs | Column, March 18

I am tired of hearing from “experts” about the state of education in Florida and how generous the governor is to teachers. As a public school teacher for 27 years, I can expertly tell you there is no “woke propaganda sown into classroom curriculum.” I teach children math, to read, to write and to get along with others. Being “woke” in my classroom means we are kind to each other, politely listen to other’s ideas and accept our differences. I have watched a profession I love lose talented people because of low pay, low morale and degradation by elected officials. I decided to go back and check my paystubs since these columnists said, “The governor has, since 2020, overseen the biggest teacher pay increase in Florida history.” Guess what? I made $5,000 less in 2021 than I did in 2020; my pay in 2018 was $3,000 more than in 2021. In 2022, my annual salary was the same as 2020.

Marcy White, Tampa

Change at the top

Let’s put Florida’s right to clean water in the state constitution | Column, March 20

I laud columnist Ed Killer’s efforts to add the Florida Right to Clean Water into the state constitution. But even if by some miracle the issue makes it to the ballot and is approved by the majority of the voters, nothing will change until the leadership, or lack of it, in Tallahassee itself changes.

Brian Walkowiak, St. Petersburg

Lifting their voices

Florida A&M voices | March 19

I am a white woman. I was having a discussion with a friend, a Black man. We were discussing families, and I mentioned how similar our values were in raising our children. He agreed, but added, “You have never had to have ‘the talk’ with your children.” This made me very sad. And then the Tampa Bay Times had this wonderful article about Florida A&M students raising their voices. It was uplifting to read their words and know that they are the future.

Marilyn S. Warner, Clearwater

Clarification

A Saturday letter to the editor with the headline “Transparency in tort reform” was written by Tiger Joyce, who is president of the American Tort Reform Association. That affiliation was noted in the letters package that published on tampabay.com but was inadvertently omitted from the letters that were published in the e-Newspaper.