A teacher calls it quits, set to rhyme | Letters to the editor

I am leaving teaching, yes it is so,
The passion lives on, but still I must go.

The system is broken, the bar set so low,
What are we doing? How can it be so?

When a child cannot read or let alone write,
Why do they move on? It just isn’t right.

Adding, subtracting and basic math skill,
Students don’t know and perhaps never will.

It’s a lie to promote them, set them up to fail,
Without skills needed, so they might prevail.

Yes, we’re all different, and have different needs,
But the goal of education is to help kids succeed.

Not just a grade but with morals and care,
What I see going on fills me with despair.

Parents don’t partner, teachers are blamed,
Kids get a free pass and education is shamed.

What’s wrong with failure? Sit in it, you’ll grow,
Humble and stronger, more than you know.

You will learn grit. You will learn to be kind,
You will learn ownership. Learn your own mind.

Though I’ll no longer teach, I’m on the kids’ side,
But I’m fighting a system and losing my pride.

Without professionalism, without respect,
And without support, what can one expect?

What’s next? I don’t know. I have no Plan B,
But I pray I’ll find my way, so I’ll wait and see.

Jill Brannigan, Boca Raton

The writer taught third grade at Torah Academy of Boca Raton.

Respecting the truth

I’m a retired senior and independent voter. No one ever suggested I was the brightest bulb in the chandelier, but I know I’m right in opposing Trump and the MAGA movement.

In school, telling the truth was one of the first and most important lessons we learned. The Trump/MAGA cult cares not for the truth; that’s why I oppose them.

Along with disdain for truth, they fear they will be replaced as demographics evolve. America is a melting pot and has flourished because of it.

The Trump-MAGA movement embraces voter suppression and restricting books we’ve read for years. They are intent on taking freedom of choice away from women, and they oppose child care and other social programs that show compassion for our neighbors.

They control the Republican Party and, through powerful media, have spread the Big Lie. The rest of us must resist it — and the place for that is the ballot box.

Mark Lippman, Boca Raton

Lashing out, everywhere

Take a lying, cheating, narcissistic, power-hungry bully and make him — to the shock of many — one of the most powerful men in the world.

Now take away his toys and force him to leave the nation’s highest office through the same democratic process that granted it to him.

What does he do?

A mature adult would gracefully accept defeat. But like a petulant five-year-old, he refuses to relinquish power.

He lashes out in all directions: Voting machines were rigged (false). Poll workers altered ballots (false). The election was stolen (false). The reality, which he won’t accept, is that he lost. His unwillingness to accept that reality clearly renders him unfit to be president.

Here’s the crazy part: Republicans in Congress, who swore to uphold the Constitution, instead rally behind him, fearing his wrath. They could have stopped this nonsense before it overtook the country. Now, it’s up to us on November 5.

Joel Speiser, Delray Beach

Editorials are too biased

I read your editorials from time to time, and I find them biased. They exhibit Trump Derangement Syndrome symptoms.

Our great country and state need Trump, and Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, to rescue us from the disaster that Joe Biden and the progressives have created. I am glad I am not a subscriber.

Rocco Rositano, Kissimmee