Pre-K education needs better funding

Last week brought two stories that should be read together, not separately: only 44% of Florida children entering kindergarten are considered “ready” (“Many kids aren’t ‘ready’ for kindergarten,” Aug. 29) and Orange County Public Schools is closing buildings because enrollment keeps falling (“Area school enrollment down by 12,000,” Aug. 27).

The voucher program isn’t the only reason for that enrollment decline, but it is one of them. Under Florida’s Family Empowerment Scholarship, any parent — regardless of income or ability to pay — can now receive a taxpayer-funded voucher to send their child to private school. About 60% of that money follows children into religious schools. And by the state’s own data, 69% of voucher recipients were already enrolled and already paying tuition. For most of these families, the voucher isn’t opening a door that was closed to them — it’s a refund.

Compare that to how we treat the years before kindergarten. Florida’s VPK program covers just three hours of pre-K instruction a day. Anything beyond that — extended care, a full school day, the hours a working parent actually needs — comes out of the family’s own pocket, no matter their income.

We’re often told that businesses should help fund early childhood education, since these are their future employees, and a strong start improves the skills they’ll bring to the workforce years down the line. That’s a reasonable argument. So here’s the question I’d like an answer to: if we’re willing to use tax dollars to fund private, K-12 tuition for families who can already afford it, why are we not willing to do the same for the three, four, and five-year-olds who need it most?

— Alex Jimenez, Winter Park

Dems must focus on repairing institutions

In the 2022 midterms, the erosion of democratic norms stood as a top-tier concern for a vast majority of Democrats, but the party went full throttle on reproductive freedom after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Subordinating the deterioration of democracy to a social outrage issue, abortion rights, proved costly. By shifting their focus, Democrats missed a historic opportunity to send a message that a foundational threat to the constitutional framework will not be tolerated, allowing Republicans to regain control of the House of Representatives.

With the 2026 midterms fast approaching, Democrats appear to have made affordability their signature campaign issue. This strategy mirrors the exact approach that previously marginalized their power, inadvertently creating an opening for Republicans to subvert democratic institutions. Voter suppression, with Donald Trump seemingly leading the charge, is a prime example, and it may be the leverage Trump needs to advance his designs on absolute power.

— Jim Paladino, Tampa

Law enforcement’s measured response

A woman who entered Mar-a-Lago without authorization was arrested last week after a police pursuit (“Mar-a-Lago checkpoint encounter ends with pursuit, arrest”, Aug. 28). According to an affidavit, Alexa Scharf “…ignored repeated commands (from a Secret Service agent) to stop and drove toward the agent forcing him to move out of the way.” Later she drove toward a Palm Beach police officer, “forcing him to move quickly to avoid being struck.”

Instead of shooting her, the two law enforcement officers… moved out of the way.

This renders as nonsense any explanation ICE put forward that Renee Good endangered the lives of their agents during a noteworthy January incident in Minneapolis that ended in Good’s shooting death. Even if she had been driving toward them, which I believe recordings showed she wasn’t, they could have moved out of the way. I believe the ICE agents and their supervisors should be tried for murder.

— Samuel Smith, Clermont

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