close

A business mind is a terrible thing to waste

4 min read

To the editor:

As I travel Lee County gathering feedback on how to better our schools, I’m surprised by the assumptions people make on changing our current school board. And I don’t need to remind anyone what assuming does, but thinking that a man with a business background isn’t pro-teacher is just plain wrong. I’m very much pro-teacher, but I’m opposed to poor management of taxpayer funds, especially when they’re thrown away on things like a bloated transportation budget. You know, the one consuming $50 million per year busing our children for hours a day to schools far from home.

How much of that money could go back into the classroom, or even save jobs? Is that expenditure making things better? How much of that money is being wasted? We don’t really know, except by comparing Lee County statistics to the rest of our state – we’re almost 50 percent higher than similar districts. So why is it an audit of this system receives a knee-jerk “No” response from Superintendent Browder? Why not be concerned about the money you’re taking from little Suzy’s mom and dad, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and neighbors? Browder has since acquiesced, but where was the board’s leadership on this issue?

Next, let’s consider reading scores. Wanting to be a “world-class school system” sounds like a good idea, although a bit expensive. But is it realistic? Today 30 percent of third graders can’t read at grade level. And it only gets worse as our kids progress. Over 60 percent of tenth graders show the same poor result. So is satisfying FCAT scores part of the problem, or part of the solution? It’s nice that our board members like to read to students, but we need all our students to be able to read to us! We also need to know they understand what they read. Kids can’t succeed if they can’t read. And if they don’t learn, they can’t earn. Maybe we should start by getting that right.

In business, you don’t create an unattainable vision for your company. You look at the realities of your product, your market, your workforce and then you establish short, mid, and long-term objectives to reach your goals. And speaking of workforce, Lee County can’t attract and grow businesses if it doesn’t have an educated population. Did you know that 23 percent of our high school kids drop out before graduation? And over 30 percent of those who do graduate must take remedial courses in college? The board is entrusted with $1.5 billion each year, which is more than $18,000 per student, but only about $7,500 gets into the classroom. Perhaps operational funds and capital funds need to be reallocated? It seems like we’re paying for Cadillac schools and getting clunker schools instead. So let’s achieve “Best in Florida” status and then we’ll talk about going global.

I believe the board needs to approach issues with a different mindset, a fresh outlook, a broader perspective. Parents and their progeny are the school district’s customers, not the enemy. They want a quality education for their children, and teachers want nothing less for their students. But all too often the board comes across as adversarial or dictatorial and parents are left feeling they’ve been told to “Let them eat cake!” An approach like that in business or industry would soon mean your company is out of business. In the school board’s case it should mean, come election day, current members will be out of a job. It’s time to elect people who can face reality and make the changes necessary to achieve excellence in education for every child. In other words, it’s time to make it right.

Tom Scott

Director of the

SWFEC in Fort Myers, candidate for Lee County School Board