Must recognize that we have teacher's unions here in Florida. Of course, Florida being a right-to-work state means these unions have no power, no authority, and no ability pursue the policies that those people on the ground know would help education.

You seem to feel that public education was harmed by the creation of the Federal Department of Education.

You say, "There was no Federal Department of Education until around 1980, and the department--apart from all other education funding--has eaten about half a trillion dollars since then." Gee, wouldn't this have been a creation of a Republican Party administration? Don't know just asking.

Actually in Florida, Federal and State contributions to education are best described as slight to little. Schools are funded by county ad valorem taxation on real estate and the people buying lottery tickets.

The problems in our schools are too varied and complex to yeild to an explantion on a post. Suffice it to say Florida suffers from a right wing conservative bias. A major portion of our population is made up of retired northerners who feel they paid their taxes in New York to educate their kids and left N.Y. to get away from those high taxes and all social responsibilities. Our retirees come to Florida to fish and golf.

With all of this, FCAT testing, SAT scores, seem to indicate we are doing a pretty good job in our schools in spite of the problems and barriers. Having founded the Key Club in our local High School, I have long been impressed the kids were a lot sharper than their fathers in the Kiwanis Club that sponsored them.

Publius