Four ways to help improve our school system.

staff, administration and other educators who should be capable of outlining our school district’s monetary needs — specifically, where the money spent would do the most good for our students.

Here’s a suggestion from a retired (33 years) high school teacher in Palm Beach County:

■ Get bused students to school on time. Do this by offering goodpaying jobs, hosting informational programs prior to each school year for potential bus drivers and aides, and providing routes that work.

■ Value teachers by paying them sufficient salaries for the jobs they do. Do not determine pay for teachers on their high school SAT or ACT test scores — or even on their students’ scores — without taking into consideration that honors students can’t score higher than the highest mark. Also, realize that “basic” students in a special class together can’t all magically raise their scores significantly.

■ Get student, parent, teacher and schoolbased administration input on what materials are needed in the classroom. Then provide them.

■ Stop finding loopholes to the mandated classsize law that result in too many students in classrooms. Then hire the teachers you need.

And if you need more money to accomplish these goals, get rid of the people who are not doing their job. vent the chronic health issues that develop when not having one. Change the curriculum in grade and high schools to allow students to acquire tools to allow them to work in the skilled trades: welders, pipe fitters, electricians, carpenters, drywallers, machinists, cooks/chefs, masons, etc.

College is not for everyone; however, some education is needed to succeed. There are young people throughout America who have fouryear degrees, are thousands of dollars in debt, and are working at fastfood restaurants or parttime in retail. ar costs increase for FPL. This is what you get with a monopoly.