We have to thank Tom Garland for giving structure to the Education Budget and Tax Watch Committee.  He also was instrumental in bringing the Attorney’s downfall, putting him in the position of figurehead only.  He stays in until the end of his contract in 2013 because the old school board allowed him to write his own contract which states that even if they want him gone, they still have to pay the whole contract.  They also awarded him a salary that is the highest in the School District.  So he just sits there  at the board
meetings with a smirk on his face and hires subcontractors to do all of his work.  But we just have to wait him out.

Mike Becks took over monitoring the Health Care Fund which is operating at a deficit of $10Million.  The jury is still out on what will happen with this, but at least the public  and the Florida Department of Education is aware of the problem.

Scott Pailthorpe and Linda Schaich were active on the Sales Tax Accountability Committee, Linda being Chairman.  We pointed out the discrepancies in the completed contracts in school construction and the original contracts.   And now the committee is asking for full access to the construction records.  This was followed up with several letters to the editor and speeches at the school board meeting.  As a result of this, Sherry Dowling took an early retirement.

Peggy Martin and Linda Schaich have been very active in bringing to light the problems with the financial statements and budgets.  We have shown that the current budget is full of errors and omissions and have actively informed the public with letters to editor, speaking at board meetings, and representatives.  As a result of this, Jim Drake, Superintendent of Business Services is retiring in February.

We still have a board that almost always votes 3 to 2 on everything.  The next big hurdle we have to get over is to give support to Julie Aranibar and Karen Carpenter by making sure that another conservative gets elected to support them. Please help us bring down the “good ol’ boy network” that is bringing down our schools and destroys our childrens future with poor educational programs.

This will be a very nasty campaign as the administrative people will be fighting for their jobs.  They have a lot to lose. Remember what Julie Aranibar went through to get elected.

Starting in July, we need every bit of help that we can get in this fight.