While I can see some benefits to electing a superintendent, being able to
choose from a huge pool of politicians and outside administrators from the
business sector--I can also see a downside. Schools are not factories,
anymore than students are inventory. I suppose the system works in
Florida--has it ALWAYS been like that in Florida? But shouldn't a school
administrator have some experience in schools? Maybe a degree in education?
Perhaps a few years banging chalk and dealing with students?
How far can we take this 'outsiders are experts' trend, I wonder? Would you
want an 'elected' surgeon?
"I'd like to introduce you to the man who will be doing your surgery, today.
He won the county election by a landslide and everyone who's met him say
he's a swell guy. --er--what's that? Credentials? Well, -er- the voters
have spoken. Does he REALLY need training, experience, and expertise in -er-
physiology and anatomy, and all that gross medical stuff? He won by a
landslide."
-----Original Message-----
From: Holli [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Wednesday, July 21, 2004 1:21 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [HP3000-L] It's political season
http://www.floridakeysnews.info
It's political season
The ink had not even dried on the qualifying papers Friday before politics
began to raise its ugly head in Monroe County with the resignation of a
deputy school superintendent. This political season is off to a good
mudslinging start. Incumbent School Supt. John Padget has been under fire
since his appointment last year to the position by Gov. Jeb Bush. A
businessman, not an educator or politician, Padget was just beginning his
run for a full-term at the head of the county school system when he was
blasted broadside by one of his assistants - one that he originally fought
the school board to bring to Monroe County in the hopes of cleaning up our
school mess - and her husband. The irony in this is that neither Karen
Hessel, nor her husband, seem to understand that voters in this county
soundly defeated a proposition last year to let the school board hire a
superintendent and instead stuck with electing the school's top person. (See
story on Page 3.) Many of the members of our school board have been having
the same problem, especially since the governor appointed an outsider to
fill the unexpired superintendent's term. None of this is doing anything
good for our schools, which have plenty of problems on their own. Nor does
it bode well for voters giving the school their approval to renew a tax that
was dropped in order to shift funds from construction to classrooms in the
last election. The school board and superintendent may have to wait awhile
before they see that tax renewed. We don't think voters are going to put up
too long with this internal bickering in the school system. Educators can't
seem to accept the fact that we elect our school superintendent here and
that may mean we choose to have a non-educator, a person more experienced in
business, run our school system and look after our tax dollars. If that is
the voters' choice, so be it. It does not look from here like the school
superintendent's race, and possibly any of the school board races, are going
to be that clean and we hate to see that. These are the people we hire to
set examples for our youth and the examples they are setting certainly are
not ones of which we can be that proud.
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