Bradenton Times News Articles

Energy policy was front and center in all three presidential debates and has rivaled employment as the defining issue in this election. For all of the back and forth on the subject, there were several critical issues which were never touched, leaving many Americans scratching their heads and trying to decide which candidate sounded most convincing. But as long as both sides avoid honest conversation with the American people, we remain unlikely to move toward a consensus on this key issue of economic, environmental and foreign policy.

Despite the many wonderful things our schools provide, such as robotics, engineering, vocational training and football, Manatee’s schools have been poorly served at the top, stamping us as the gang which can neither count straight nor plan for our future. The Manatee School District has a poor reputation in surrounding counties and in Tallahassee. If you need a cheap laugh, mention Manatee in your punch line.

I have been doing my own investigation about the candidates running for Manatee School Board and this is what I've found about Rob Moates, which is very disturbing. Imagine my alarm when I found on the Supervisor of Election’s website, in Rob Moates’ September 28 Campaign Treasurer’s Report, that Schroeder Manatee Ranch related corporations, on September 25th gave Moates’ campaign $10,000 and that all of Moates’ contributions for this reporting period except one came from these corporations.

Has anyone noticed the absence of the CFO of the Manatee School District? It is rumored that Michael Boyer has taken a two week vacation. How can this be, right in the middle of a financial crisis? Never mind the fact that he has only worked at the District since March 2012.

As you point out, the teaching problem is demographics, not race. In a teacher education program taught by Florida to all teachers a few years back, they showed that detailed zip codes was the SINGLE most significant factor (80%), not teachers, in determining progress, grades, drop-outs, college entry. After reading that, I used a zip code address lookup web page to look up my good and poor students. It "predicted" them perfectly.

At every level, civil and criminal courts have continued to function in such a manner that the average citizen is at a severe disadvantage when they either choose to seek redress through them, or are forced to participate in their proceedings. Nowhere is the disparity in economic resources, which has grown more and more severe during the recent unprecedented expansion of the wealth gap, such a glaring factor as in the courts. As a variety of issues conspire to further politicize Florida courtrooms, this hindrance to a just and equitable society will only deepen.

The Florida Department of Education has announced plans to implement goal-setting based on racial demographics. This approach oversimplifies a complicated challenge, while playing into stereotypes and reinforcing divides that contribute to racial tensions in our society. When it comes to education, too often the real enemy is poverty and the lack of top-down resources which accompany it. Merely structuring goals around demographic data, without attempting to understand or address causal relationships, is not an approach likely to yield successful results.

"We stand behind our reputation," said George Glance, President of KB Home Central Florida, as he stood before the Manatee Board of County Commissioners. It appears the builder is doing just that. The company has been sued for fraud and price fixing in Arizona, Nevada and California -- building homes on a former bombing range -- violating Federal Trade Commission agreements to repair crumbling houses -- while getting hit with a $20 million settlement for poor construction in Texas. Former CEO Bruce Karatz was even indicted by a federal grand jury for fraud in a stock option scandal. KB brings new meaning to "BANG for your buck." 

Vice Presidential debates are rarely more exciting than presidential ones. But on Thursday night, Paul Ryan and Joe Biden gave voters a more thorough and open rundown of each camp's positions, despite having what would essentially be three Presidential debates worth of subjects crammed into one. While supporters of each side likely felt as if they got a good dose of what they wanted to hear, the debate crystallized the differences between the tickets and should have given undecided voters plenty to think about.

After 19 years working in the Manatee Schools District, I and other educators have sat ringside while the politics and choices of noneducators have lowered our effectiveness, depleted our trust, and decimated our salaries. To say that hope is a foreign concept would be an exercise in severe understatement. Now we face the events of this year: a budget in crisis, a superintendent resignation, and the possibility of state intervention and possibly even receivership.