No trust left

To the editor:

When politicians start throwing dirt at each other on television commercials so they can win an election, it is very sad and hard to trust either party. They both come on as being crooks that are stealing our taxpayers’ money.

Their integrity and respect goes down the drain. I will not vote for either of them. I have lost my trust in them. Where did their education go to when they have to insult each other? What happened to decency and morals and treating each other with respect?

Maria Nin
Kissimmee

Response on dropout rate

To the editor:

I am writing this letter in response to Michael Hall’s recent letter to the editor where he makes mention of a 25-30 percent dropout rate in Osceola County public schools. To his credit, he is using data that is available for public consumption in his calculations.

For many years, the local high school graduation rate has been reported at 65-79 percent, with 79 percent being the most recent number reported. With data like that being reported, it is easy to assume that the other 21 percent is not graduating.

The Florida Department of Education calculates high school graduation rates based upon a student entering ninth grade and graduating in a traditional eight semesters, and that is the statistical model they report from. So, if a student graduates a semester or an entire year early, they do not figure into the calculation. On the flip side, if a student needs an extra semester or summer school, they also will not factor in as graduates based on the state model.

Frankly, when I first got elected to the Osceola County School Board in 2002, I was under the same impression as Mr. Hall. Unless a person is intimately involved with Florida public education, they will most likely assume that what is reported is true data.

In fact, Osceola County graduates well over 97 percent of students who enter ninth grade. Not all these students fit into the state’s statistical model. The Florida Department of Education is not the best-run agency in Florida. The good news is that high schools will no longer have FCAT as the sole determination of a high school letter grade. Now, graduation rates and AP exams will factor in, too.

The bad news is that the Florida Department of Education will not have its act together until late November of this year. That is when this past school year’s high school results will be available to all of us from them.

I hope this provides some clarification to what can be very misleading data.

Jay Wheeler

Osceola County School Board, district 1