Guest Blog: A Good Education vs. A Healthy Environment. Posted by Geniusofdespair

Guest Blog by: Environmentalists For Better Education
(we print guest blogs, but don't necessarily agree with all the points made, we want to give a voice to citizens. The "WE" the author refers to is not us).

To the parents who attended the Board of County Commissioners Meeting Thursday, I would like to reach out and share a few thoughts.

It may have appeared to you that some environmentalists at the meeting seemed out of touch with the reality of the needs of young families and their school-aged children. Please know that we are, by our nature, a caring lot. Many and most of us have or had children in the school system, and we do care a great deal about the quality of your children’s education.

Unfortunately, the meeting was fashioned by Lobbyist spin to pit a safer environment against a good education. We can thank the land use attorneys representing Lowes for that one. This debacle was designed by those seeking to get the application approved. They really did a great disservice that day. Our children deserve a good education AND a healthy environment.

The Lowes application might be litigated. Every state and county agency that has reviewed this application has recommended denial for a myriad of reasons, the environment being only one of them. The school board is not likely to be in favor of this either. I believe they still adhere to the McAliley line somewhat, that new schools be built at least one mile inside the urban boundary limit. A handful of commissioners on the BCC are the only ones that have deemed this application feasible. In fact, that land is not free. It must be bought and it is not the only land in the area that is suitable for a school. (Hit read more)

Charter Schools, by their design, do not take every student who applies to them. The school in Homestead has caused a lot of controversy for this same reason. The issue of overcrowding would not really be addressed with a new charter school.

There is a greater chance that this tract of land will end up as an office building or a shopping mall than a school. The commissioners and the attorneys know this. Believe me, you will not be the only ones who are fighting mad if a virtual charter school was dangled in front of you so that some national retail giant could make a case for building a hardware store built on the edge of wetlands.

I want to reach out specifically to one very eloquent, well-spoken mom who addressed the board in the afternoon after the MPO meeting. She mentioned that Lowes and the school should consider partnering in teaching environmental science and making that a specific mission with the charter school. While I would ask her to first embrace the paradox of building a store on environmentally sensitive land, I would also like to invite her to talk with us. SHE is just the type of person that the environmentalists want to work with. If you are out there reading this, eloquent, well-spoken, caring mother, write to us. We want you, and others like you, who are mindful and intelligent. We want to talk about some ways that the needs of your community can be addressed.

Here is a platform for you to consider:

1. Our children are entitled to a good education.
2. Over crowded “factories” with up to 4,000 students don’t work. Why would we expect our young ones to have to attend such impersonal institutions? Smaller schools work better, some can make use of existing buildings with rennovation. They have used a shopping center for a school on Ives Dairy Road.
3. There is a place in this world for charter schools and magnet schools. Parents and students deserve choices.
4. We should enjoy walkable neighborhoods that include sidewalks and streets that are wide enough to handle local traffic. There should be buffers between the sidewalks, developments and streets. We should have trees and grass – abundantly so – to oxygenate and cool the air, to beautify our environment, to mitigate traffic noise, to brighten our souls and to support good property values. We deserve parks. We need good connectivity so that our children can get out in the fresh air and sunshine and be able to go where they need to go, safely, on foot and with bicycles.

….but the platform gets better:

5. We should be able to turn on our tap water in the kitchen and draw good, drinkable (potable) water that is free of dangerous chemicals, endocrine blockers, hormones and carcinogenic elements.
6. We should be able to get to work and to school easily. We should not have to spend a large portion of each day commuting, taking time away from the process of living a good and healthy life and, therefore, leaving more time for the ones we love and cherish. We should not be contributing tons of carbon dioxide into the air.
7. Future generations should be able to live here, enjoying a good standard of living and a healthy environment.
8. Future generations should be able to enjoy one of the world’s most amazing parks, the great river of grass and the aquatic life in the Biscayne Bay. These eco systems protect us. They are the lungs and the liver of South Florida.
9. Future generations deserve protection from rising seas and global warming.

You are entitled to the infrastructure that all Dade County residents should receive. We are with you on that BUT we ask that you consider the following:

1. Help us stop the building further West in your area as we will need increased flood protection for these areas and that is a problem for the Everglades. Many now-environmentalists have come to realize how terrible urban sprawl can be AFTER they bought a home in the far west. You are already victims of this sprawl. When you hear about a new tract of land that is being rezoned (land use change) or developed, get involved. Stop it. Demand that your commissioner listen to the voice of reason.

Urban sprawl contributes to air pollution, depletion of natural water resources, climate warming, overcrowding of schools, increased traffic and increased county budgets for capital expenditures and operating costs. This is an oversimplification of the issues. Builders who promise to put in infrastructure (roads, schools) will not really be helping you. The residential building that follows these types of improvements causes overcrowding and negates the improvements. The county is hard-pressed to keep up with the growing demand for more infrastructure (roads, schools, utilities, police and fire services to mention a few). Residents are left on the short end of the stick. Don’t fall for this trick. Developers should not be our county planners. That never works.

2. Take another look at what happened Thursday. Here is the link for the webcast. Listen to what Gimenez, Heyman and Sorrenson were saying. THEY were obviously concerned that the wool was being pulled over your eyes. I cannot stress enough how deeply we care about your children. We are truly offended that others treated you in such a way. Here’s the link:

Webcast

3. Let your school board and commissioners know that you deserve good educational facilities and libraries, in logical places that do not damage the environment. There is plenty of land inside the UDB to be built upon.

4. If you want this charter school, start working cooperatively to find some land inside the UDB and in proximity to your area. You will be better served by breaking away from this mess of litigation that is about to happen and moving in a direction that will provide you with real solutions in a reasonable timeframe. GO GET YOUR SCHOOL. Make it happen.

Ask us to get involved with you. Your children are this county’s most precious resource. We care about them. We care about you. With unified voices, we stand a greater chance of being heard.