Don\u2019t expand the Miami city commission. No need to fix what isn\u2019t broken<\/a>.\u201d Gonzalez lost his bid to be our mayor in large part because he advocated for the status quo.<\/p>\nFive commissioners represent almost 100,000 voters. Five people control a $1.8 billion budget. Worse yet, three people control the vote for a majority decision.<\/p>\n
We need higher voter participation. Even year elections would do that. The Stronger Miami petition is designed to bring better representation to all of Miami. We need districts that honor local culture and geographic boundaries. Let\u2019s stop the madness and support the Stronger Miami petition.<\/p>\n
John Dolson,<\/p>\n
Coconut Grove<\/p>\n
Pay our teachers<\/p>\n
We expand teacher mandates, increase reporting requirements, raise standards and publicly criticize outcomes. Teachers manage larger classes, escalating behavior issues and constant paperwork. Yet, we pay them at levels that are financially unsustainable in one of the fastest-rising cost-of-living states in the nation. You cannot demand premium performance while paying discount wages.<\/p>\n
Florida ranks near the bottom nationally in average teacher pay. More than 30% of teachers statewide have fewer than four years of experience and uncertified or out-of-field hires have nearly doubled in five years \u2014 clear indicators of retention failure tied to compensation.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, state budgets consistently fund corporate incentives, favored initiatives and administrative growth. Even within education, bureaucracy expands while classroom teachers stretch every dollar.<\/p>\n
This is not complicated. Florida does not have a teacher shortage; it has a compensation shortage. If Florida expects higher standards and stronger outcomes, compensation must match expectations. Dedication is not a substitute for sustainable pay.<\/p>\n
Horace Webster,<\/p>\n
Tallahassee<\/p>\n
Fertile grounds<\/p>\n
On the surface, biochar seems like a viable solution to our green waste challenge, which represents only 10% of our landfills. Biochar requires baking the green waste at 1,400 to 2,000 degrees, requiring much electricity, so we burn more fossil fuels to generate that power. This, in turn, adds to the greenhouse gases we are trying to reduce or eliminate. Essentially, we would be operating an expensive oven.<\/p>\n
Nothing against ovens, but why not let nature take its course and address 40-50% of our landfill waste \u2014 green waste and discarded food scraps \u2014 by composting on an industrial scale, without electrical input?<\/p>\n
Composting may take months naturally \u201ccooking\u201d in piles, but composted green and food waste immediately can be used as nutrient-rich soils for farming or home gardening. In South Dade, this process has been in use on a large scale. It\u2019s carefully monitored and maintained and no scavenging four-legged creatures nor birds are seen at landfills. Nor does compost properly create the egregious smells we experience when the wind changes near Mt. Trashmore in northern Broward County and other places.<\/p>\n
The biochar processing experiment has a one-year trial period, as does a composting operation. I hope Miami-Dade County sees the wisdom of composting over operating biochar ovens.<\/p>\n
Libby Mahaffey,<\/p>\n
Coral Gables<\/p>\n
Needless detention<\/p>\n
If the aim of this administration is to deport illegal immigrants, why is there a need for permanent detention centers or an expanded prison system developed and paid for by ICE and taxpayer dollars? Who will these facilities be used for ultimately?<\/p>\n
Who can or will answer these questions?<\/p>\n
Sonja I. Pantry,<\/p>\n
Miramar<\/p>\n
Preferred pass<\/p>\n
I was absolutely shocked and repulsed when I first saw the new National Park Service\u2019s annual pass with a picture of President Donald Trump on it. Our National Park Service (NPS) was created by President Woodrow Wilson in 1916.<\/p>\n
In his 2026 national budget plan, Trump proposed more than $1 billion in cuts to NPS, the largest cut in the service\u2019s 109-year history. This would have been devastating to the agency and our national parks. Earlier cuts had already caused a loss of important staff at Everglades National Park.<\/p>\n
Luckily, Congress rejected Trump\u2019s cuts before passing the budget, to the relief of national park employees and the hundreds of millions of visitors they welcome each year. Trump\u2019s picture on the new annual pass is pathetic. Thankfully, my senior lifetime pass has a bighorn sheep on it.<\/p>\n
Roger Hammer,<\/p>\n
Homestead<\/p>\n
Unforced error<\/p>\n
I had the unfortunate experience of walking through the bombed-out countryside of Vietnam during that war. If the people who order bomb strikes could just see the devastation and carnage caused, there might be fewer bombings.<\/p>\n
Today, America has seen fit to bomb Iran and show off our power to destroy. This was done without any congressional approval or notice. We will now be in another globalist, unwinnable and very costly war for years to come.<\/p>\n
Miles Woolley,<\/p>\n
Kendall<\/p>\n
Room to write<\/p>\n
I totally agree with Mary Anna Mancuso\u2019s March 4 op-ed, \u201cFlorida lawmakers should bring cursive back to classrooms.\u201d Research has proven there are many benefits to cursive. My private school has always taught it.<\/p>\n
However, I am appalled at the crowded conditions shown in the photograph taken at Edward L. Whigham Elementary School, where students sit shoulder-to-shoulder at long tables. Good cursive requires free shoulder-arm movement, with arms fully on the table and the free hand holding the paper at the top. Additionally, such closeness allows germs to flow freely among the students, putting them in harm\u2019s way.<\/p>\n
Is this over-crowded classroom typical?<\/p>\n
If only this school, it must be rectified. Learning requires sustained, deep focus which cannot be maintained when students are jammed together.<\/p>\n
Joan Kasner,<\/p>\n
Coral Gables<\/p>\n
Panther hero<\/p>\n
Heroes, some say, wear capes. One hero, however, wears skates. Joe DiMaggio Children\u2019s Hospital Foundation celebrated a significant seven-figure philanthropic gift from Florida Panthers Captain Aleksander \u201cSasha\u201d Barkov last week. A long-time supporter, Sasha is a frequent hospital visitor who lights up the eyes and lifts the spirits of all the kids \u2014 and their families \u2014 in our pediatric unit.<\/p>\n
Through his extraordinary generosity, we will continue leading and advancing pediatric sports medicine at Joe DiMaggio. Our sports medicine program is now known as the Barkov Sports Medicine Program at Joe DiMaggio Children\u2019s Hospital. The program cares for patients with acute emergency injuries and surgical needs. It also provides rehabilitation, injury prevention, concussion management, athletic training services and education.<\/p>\n
We are so fortunate to have Sasha and other athletes like him in our community who give back and genuinely care. Through his philanthropy, our teams will get children back to the activities they enjoy with the inspiration and namesake of a captain who leads with love and humility.<\/p>\n
Beth-Ann Krimsky,<\/p>\n
board chair,<\/p>\n
Joe DiMaggio Children\u2019s Hospital Foundation and Memorial Foundation,<\/p>\n
Fort Lauderdale<\/p>\n
For the birds<\/p>\n
An item in the Herald\u2019s March 5 story, \u201cFive notable bills are on the verge of dying as Florida\u2019s legislative session nears end,\u201d stood out. A bill regarding the state bird had passed the House by a vote of 112-1. That is nearly unanimous.<\/p>\n
If the 120 representatives elected to serve their state constituency all felt one way on a topic, how can 40 senators, elected to represent the same 13 million state voters, not also agree?<\/p>\n
Most of us voters are fed up with the partisanship of our elected officials. They have forgotten that we chose them to represent us, not their fellow party members.<\/p>\n
David Halpern,<\/p>\n
Miami<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Miami city seal at commission chambers Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com Stronger Miami Re: the March 5 Miami Herald…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":184558,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[86859,86858,123,125,124,232,40639],"class_list":["post-184557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-education-retention","tag-florida-teacher-pay","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-tallahassee","tag-teacher-compensation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184557\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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