Candidates for the Leon County School Board talked about vouchers, teacher pay, the possibility of rezoning the school districts and much more on Wednesday at the WFSU studio. The candidates for Districts 2 and 4 were also asked to give Superintendent Rocky Hanna a letter grade. The forums were co-hosted by the Tallahassee Democrat and the League of Women Voters.
Rosanne Wood is the two-term incumbent in District 2, challenged by Daniel Zeruto. She’s been in the Leon County schools as a teacher, a principal and a school board member. He’s a PTO dad who’s been on the school advisory council and the district advisory council.
In District 4, Laurie Lawson Cox is the incumbent, a teacher who retired after 36 years. Challenger Jeremy Rogers is a firefighter and the owner of a pre-school and a summer camp.
VOUCHERS
The candidates were asked what they thought about the use of vouchers to pay for students to attend a school other than a traditional public school. And how would they, as school board members, compete with that choice to maintain a healthy school system?
“I’m anti-voucher,” said Rogers. “I think that is just a sneaky way to privatize public schools. I don’t think public money should be going into private entities in any way, shape or form. I think that money needs to go into teacher pay.”
Lawson Cox said she was a product of the Leon County public schools and a “huge advocate” for them. “But at the end of the day, I also realize that parents should be able to choose the best place that they want their kids to be educated, whether that’s private, charter, home school…”
And how can the public schools compete with those options?
“There is a financial hit,” she acknowledged, “and it means we have to re-align what we’re doing and make sure we’re offering the best programs, the best academics at our schools, that parents feel comfortable and confident sending their kids to our schools.”
“Charter schools at least have some accountability,” Wood said. “I’ve come to think of them as another alternative for parents. It’s not a level playing field, however, because there’s a lot of choice about who gets to come to your school, so that’s a problem I have. But at least they’re graded with the same accountability measures."
Asked how public schools can compete for students, Rogers said, “It’s certainly not by spending $100,000 on a logo,” referring to a recent controversy. “If you want to compete, you’ve got to take care of your house…And that starts with paying teachers more, coming up with fun and creative curriculums, getting the kids back outside. Farming public money to private companies? It’s just odd. I don’t know why we would even do that.”
‘EXISTENTIAL THREAT’
Asked to identify what she considered the “existential threat” to public schools, Wood said she’s concerned that parents might be attracted to “what sounds private.” She said there are 46 private schools in Leon County, but some have only two or three students. “I think that’s the existential question, the future of public schools – which I think is the great equalizer in our country.”
For Zeruto, the existential threat “in our district is the lack of transparency and communication between the district, the teachers with administrators, administrators with teachers, and parents as well. And I think that’s what’s causing parents to leave the public schools.”
PARTISAN SCHOOL BOARDS
School board races are nonpartisan, at least in theory, but that may soon change. This November, Florida voters will be asked to decide whether to amend the state constitution to make races for the 67 local school boards partisan. Both the District 2 and District 4 races have a Republican and a Democrat – but all four candidates said they prefer the current structure.
“I like the fact that it’s nonpartisan,” said Lawson Cox, “because we’re dealing with children.” She said she understood where the Legislature was coming from, though. “They want your point of view, your values, maybe.”
Rogers agreed. “When you start getting partisan, you start inviting extremist groups like Moms for Liberty in…” He said he couldn’t support banning books or any kind of censorship.
“We have too much partisanship in this country right now,” Wood said. “Too much division. When you’re a school board member, you’re not thinking ‘Republican, Democrat, Independent.’ You’re thinking ‘child.’
Zeruto agreed.
POLITICAL AFFILIATIONS
William Hatfield of the Democrat asked the candidates about their political affiliations.
Zeruto and Wood are registered to different political parties, as are Rogers and Lawson Cox.
“Recently we learned that my opponent’s campaign just hired a very heavy hitter in the Republican Party and raised …and is there to raise a bunch of money from those donors,” said Rogers.
“Who are you talking about?” responded Lawson Cox. “And to me, my opponent is the one who’s trying to bring partisan politics by labeling me as an extremist. And anyone who knows me knows that is the farthest thing from the truth.”
Rogers suggested that “giant, dark, corporate PACs” are supporting Lawson Cox. Hatfield pressed Rogers for an example, but Rogers didn't immediately identity one.
Later in the debate, he suggested that Moms for Liberty was an example of this funding, but Lawson Cox said she hadn't taken any money from that group. Then Rogers mentioned Friends of Corey Simon, which is associated with the senator representing Senate District 3. Lawson Cox said Simon is a personal friend.
TEACHER PAY
Wood said she hoped the Legislature would funnel more funds toward teacher pay. She said when she became a school board member eight years ago, beginning teachers started at $36,000, and now they’re making $47,500.
The other candidates also cited the importance of raising teacher pay.
CLOSING SCHOOLS
Recently another member of the Leon school board, Alva Smith, suggested a dialogue on closing schools due to declining enrollment. Lawson Cox said it’s not necessary at this time.
“I’ve taught at schools that are busting at the seams, and that creates its own challenges,” she said. “And I’ve taught at schools that were under capacity, and there are some true benefits in having a smaller school setting. We need to continue to be fiscally responsible, but I think we can come up with creative ways and hopefully not close schools anytime soon.”
Her opponent Rogers agreed. “I love that she said, ‘creative ways,’ because that’s exactly it,” he said. “We’ve just got to dig in. We’ve got to roll our sleeves up and we’ve got to get to work. Weve got to figure out how we can save those schools. We’ve got to bring the whole community involved. We need to make sure all the stakeholders are involved. We need to keep these classrooms smaller.”
Zeruto wants to have the dialogue Smith proposed. “I think we should have the tough conversations,” he said, adding that if one accounts for population growth in Leon County, school enrollment has substantially declined.
“I happen to believe in smaller schools,” Wood said. “You get to know the children that way.” She said the school district still has some 30,000 students to serve.
TEN COMMANDMENTS
Do the Ten Commandments belong in the classroom? Wood said no, citing the separation of church and state. Zeruto said yes. Asked why, he replied, “It’s part of our founding documents. It’s part of our Founding Fathers.”
SCHOOL GRADES
The candidates were asked what school has the most pressing need at the moment. Zeruto said he’d have to talk to every school in order to answer. Wood said there were several but wouldn’t name them. “Those are the schools that need the most help,” she said, adding, “I’m not going to mention the names because I don’t believe in school grades.”
GRADING ROCKY
Lawson Cox: A- or B+
Rogers: C
Wood: A
Zeruto: C+
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