I had a conversation with Bob Sutton yesterday.
He told me he wasn’t going to seek the appointment for the newly vacant School Board seat.
I told Sutton that he should make the application.
Red Broward reports that he will.
UPDATE: I spoke to Sutton this morning and he’s going for it…
I vigorously opposed Sutton during last year’s primary election because of his involvement with the “tea party.”
It wasn’t so much the tea party as it was the fact that it was led by the efforts of two fairly recent arrivals in Broward County with effectively no local voting records or traces of any activism at all.
The “do as I say, not as I do” actions hurt him big time.
After the election I got to know Sutton.
He’s a level headed Republican who cares enough about public schools and children to give up time that could be spent making money in order to teach at Piper High School.
That’s nothing to sneeze at.
I would be tempted to ask how many of my Democrat friends would interrupt their own careers to work for children anywhere in the school system, but then I remembered that I did that too.
He was Piper High School’s teacher of the year, and Sunrise’s teacher of the month this past June.
Sutton also came in last June and rescued local teachers from being charged the 3% retirement kick in for time they’d already worked if they were being paid past July 1st.
A little disclosure is in order here; Sutton and I have been working cooperatively on a project about teachers and success in the classroom since the beginning of the year.
In Dave Thomas, we had a kick ass military man who wouldn’t take shit from anybody and understood the concept of leadership.
With Sutton, the Board would have what it needs most.
A business oriented person with the ability to read and understand budgets, along with the expertise to know when to spend money and more importantly, when not to.
And a take no shit attitude.
It’s time to put partisanship aside (in a non partisan job, no less) and realize that Sutton, unlike most, (who will surely complain) has already put his money where his mouth is.
Aug 15, 2011 @ 19:58:18
I get paid by the residents of Margate. I spoke to the Governor on Saturday and sent in my official recommendation for Robert Sutton. Anyone that knows me knows that I want a School Board member that will represent Margate(which is why I got involved in the last SB election). I believe Bob will and since the Gov. is going to appoint a Republican(sorry Marty we all know that part is partisan), Bob is one of the good ones. I believe there are good and bad Republicans, good and bad Democrats, good and bad Tea Party members and good and bad Independents. I have been fortunate enough to have met both types of each. The good ones I appreciate their views and their beliefs, the bad ones I still discuss with I just know that for the most part the discussion will fall on deaf ears. Robert listens and understands that my responsibilities lie in making sure Margate schools are represented well on the SB dias.
Aug 15, 2011 @ 22:31:47
I think you’re splitting hairs. Anyone who thinks the union is the cause of the problems facing education Broward County doesn’t get it. Good Tea Partiers? Really? Our governor hates public education, subscribing to the inane idea that private business can do better. This is typical trickle-down type thinking still prevalent from the 1980s. Silly and stupid. I can’t believe the bench of possible candidates is so thin that you (and Marty) support a teacher who isn’t even a member of the union that fights for his profession. (By the way, teaching isn’t a job, it’s a profession.)
Aug 17, 2011 @ 06:03:08
Ronald
I will assume your comment about the union was for Marty since I did not mention it.
Yes there are good Tea Party people, they believe they are being over taxed and not represented properly. I can respect that belief. To not think there are good people in each party is lowering oneself to the same thinking as the bad Tea Party, Republicans and Democrats, I choose not to do that. As for Bob not being a union member, for me that is not a requirement. If I was the BTU president and he was not a union member you would have the absolute right to question my support for him. If there are other candidates I haven’t heard or seen them. Bob continued to be involved after his loss for SB, he continues to be involved with the schools, the kids and the teachers. I have sat and talked to Bob because after the election Bob reached out to me something he did not have to do. He knows how I feel about Margate schools being the step children something I do not want to see happen anymore so since this appointment is for my district I am going to want someone who knows that and will work for Margate schools.
Le
Aug 17, 2011 @ 15:26:07
Sorry, Ronald, but if you think union membership is a qualification for serving on the Board, you’re a minority of one. Trickle down? Required union membership is New York style thinking. Closed shop and all of that.
When you say “our governor hates public education,” I’m guessing you mean the man who occupies the Governor’s mansion at any particular time. History shows us that Crist reduced educational funding, Bush reduced educational funding and so did Chiles who was a Democrat. Before you rise up and debate the issue, it was Chiles who screwed with the successful lottery, reduced the payout, reduced the income and then performed the biggest bait and switch in the state’s history. Chiles took the lottery from additional education funding to replacement educational funding. His predecessor, Bob Martinez, ex-republican and neo Democrat was the last governor who actually increased educational funding, using the lotto to do it.
And when it comes to who can do it better, private industry always wins. Public schools are handicapped with so many unfunded mandates that it’s impossible to compete on a dollar for dollar basis. But here’s the rub: The best private schools don’t accept $4,000 vouchers. Not when they can charge $8,000 and even $16,000 for the same seat making the $4,000 schools schlocks at best. Most are in the business of taking that $4,000 and kicking the kids out after a month or two and back to the public schools.
Government can compete? You’re kidding, right? That’s why the post office continues to lose money and is ready to cut service and lay off about 30,000 employees. They can’t compete. Let UPS or Fed Ex deliver standard mail and that’ll be the end of the post office once and for all..
Public schools can be cleaned up and made competitive but it will take long term effort and some pain to do it. Business always goes through that cycle. Saying no is tantamount to going out of business. The truth is that some union benefits will have to be trimmed while others shored up. ie: trade unlimited sick days for boosted pay, and all that. It won’t be easy on any end.