4122 N. W. 19th Place Gainesville, Florida 32601 February 21, 1968 Mr. Floyd Christian State Superintendent of Schools State House Tallahassee, Florida Dear Mr. Superintendent I write this letter in the utmost interest of Quality Education for Florida before 1975. We have one son attending Gainesville High School and one Westwood Junior High School. The latest information tells me that Alachua County is accepting applications for substitute teaching from persons with as little as one year of college education. Can this be the Quality Education our teachers and knowledgeable parents are asking for? The teachers have not walked out--they have resigned! They are forfeiting their pay for better education for our children. As of now the two schools our sons attend are closed but as a conscientious parent, I must let it be known that if these schools are opened with "certified" substitutes, our sons will not attend. I attended two years of college in a N. C. teacher's college but I am not a qualified substitute teacher! Neither is anyone else with less than a bachelors degree in education! We need Quality Education; yet some advocate putting politics first and run a big [babysitting] service. Please do not use my taxes to pay [babysitters]. We need teachers and buildings and books and materials, etc. Let parents do their own [babysitting]. After a week of this, they would be willing to support any Quality Education program. As a last point, I would add that I know one teacher who will move out of Florida this summer. She had nothing to gain by resigning; yet she has resigned! Further, she learned today that under this new bill submitted to Governor Kirk for his signature or veto, she would actually take a $300 annual cut in salary next year--she's glad she resigned! Isn't it possible for a group of intelligent men to sit down together and reach a reasonable--non political non-party favorite solution to this most urgent problem? Sincerely Yours, [Signature] Mrs. Glenn A. Steckel Mrs. Glenn A. Steckel A Most Concerned Parent