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Editorial/Column
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AMPA – Charter Schools in the State of Florida are “State
Mandated Public Schools.” Charter Schools evolved from numerous factors. The leading factor is the al- leged “loss” of confidence by the general public in the overall competence and preparation of students in public school systems throughout the State of Florida.
The politicizing of char- ter schools has led to the es- tablishing of an increasing number of larger “revenue grabbing” industrial-like institutions which increas- ingly “suck” educational dollars from the “tradi- tional” public school sys- tems, which eliminate equity and equality in edu- cation between charter schools and public schools.
A leading theory is that such lareger “well-fi- nanced” charter schools
Feature
can create a seemingly bet- ter or more efficient and ef- fective teaching and learning approach for teachers and students.
The more recent larger “public charter schols” are often styled by advocates as “public-private” schools which have been drawing more adverse attention from local “School Boards” or from some of the local School District Hillsbor- ough County “School Board Members” because of the alleged shifting or large amount of dollars from tra- ditional public schools to the seemingly “under regu- lated” new and larger “pri- vate-public” charter schools.
However, Florida School Districts “in their various managing roles” of charter schools directly benefit from educational dollars from the charter schools via state coffers. The larger and
well-financed charter schools get the greater tax revenue dollars, while the smaller charter schools are left struggling to make “ends meet,” and yet smaller charter school stu- dents tend to compete with or outperform students at the larger well-financed charter schools.
Several major questions that seldom are being asked and answered in the vari- ous debates are “who are the winners and who are the losers?” Is it the stu- dent/child? Is it the teach- ers/administrators? Is it the parents/guardians Is it the community/society?
Legitimate and honest answers to such questions strongly suggest that all the actors/participants are stakeholders and “victims” in the overall processes and outcomes.
Also, given the various adverse impacts of COVID- 19, it would behoove each of us to start pointing fingers and blaming each other for the predicaments that have resulted from the pan- demic.
Therefore, I strongly urge that equity and equal- ity legislations and policies be created and maintained with and between charter schools and public schools that benefit everyone.
CARL WARREN, Ph.D. Cwarren1947@gmail.com
Charter Schools In Florida
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C. Blythe Andrews 1901-1977 (1945)
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Seven Courageous Republicans
The number seven means completeness and perfec- tion. As the world watched 100 US Senators listen to and see the chaos and mayhem that was instigated by President Donald Trump’s call to come to Washington, D. C., and to march on the Capitol on the morning of January 6th, we were dismayed to see 43 spineless Republicans vote to acquit President Donald Trump of inciting the crowd to march to the Capitol and “fight like hell.”
Sadly, they reminded us of the three proverbial mon- keys: see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil other than the truth. Hour after hour, we heard a brilliant prosecu- tion only to be met by deaf ears on the Republican side. Thankfully, seven Republicans heard the evidence and voted to convict. In truth, we shudder to think of what our children may be thinking about the textbook case of “dou- blespeak.”
Voters vote to send people to Congress “to do the right thing” and to vote the way most Americans believe they should vote. At least 56% of a poll of voters wanted Trump to be impeached. However, 43 spineless Senators worried more about a minority of voters kicking them out of Con- gress than they did about Trump’s behavior that resulted in multiple deaths and injuries, and the possibility that he could run again, win, and do the same thing again.
We were also dismayed that Mitch McConnell sug- gested Trump was guilty of inciting the riots, but local courts should be the ones to punish him. Indeed, one of our staff members wondered if Trump might have embar- rassing dossiers on many of the Congress members who voted to acquit.
In any event, we applaud the seven Republicans who voted to convict in order to guarantee that nothing like the January 6th events take place ever again. They demon- strated that doing the right thing was more important than worrying about a minority of voters voting them out of of- fice.
We hope the majority of voters will vote against the 43 Senators returning to office during the next election. Last week’s vote by the 57 Senators lends credence to the need to establish a Code of Conduct for the President of the United States like the one for Congress. Just do it.
Tampa Chapter Of The Links, Inc. Hosts 2nd Estate And Financial Planning Seminar Via Zoom
BY MONIQUE STAMPS Sentinel Staff Writer
On Saturday, February 27, 2021 at 10 a.m., the Tampa (FL) Chapter of the Links Inc. is having the sec- ond in its series of Financial Education seminars via Zoom designed for the African American commu- nity. The seminars are free and open to all.
Mary Dance, co-chair- person of the National Trends Facet of the Tampa Chapter, states that this sem- inar is about retirement and financial security and will focus on 401K accounts and other means to supplement your retirement income and social security.
The seminar will help people prepare for retire- ment, understand Social Se- curity, eligibility rules, and how to handle multiple in- come streams if you have a
401K account, a pension, and/or social security.
The importance of retire- ment savings is especially crucial for Black people. The wealth gap between whites and people of color continues to widen. According to U.S. News and World Report, So- cial Security benefits can be lower for African Americans because of current and his- torical income inequality. Forbes magazines puts it more bluntly, “The average white family had more than $130,000 in liquid retire- ment savings (cash in ac- counts such as 401(K)s, 403(b)s and IRAs) vs. $19,000 for the average African American.
COVID has not eased the disparity for Blacks. Under the previous President, the wealthiest of Americans con- tinued to make more and more money while commu- nities of color fought finan-
cial crisis after financial cri-
sis.
Dance says that both
young and older people will benefit from learning how to maximize their benefits. Even if someone is already retired, this seminar can help determine if your non-Social Security income is utilized to bring the largest return on investment.
This seminar is also in partnership with Thomas Fi- nancial, a member of M Fi- nancial and a partner withthe Links since Septem- ber 2019.
To register in advance for this meeting go to this web- site: https://tinyurl.com /103b3bn7. After registering, you will receive a confirma- tion email containing infor- mation about joining the meeting.
For questions email ntstampa2021@gmail.com.
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2021 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY PAGE 5-A