CAMPAIGN 2010 | MIAMI-DADE SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT 7
5 campaign for open seat on Miami-Dade School Board
Five candidates with different backgrounds and priorities are vying to replace Ana Rivas Logan on the Miami-Dade School Board.
BY KATHLEEN MCGRORY
KMCGRORY@MIAMIHERALD.COM
The five candidates running to represent southwest Miami-Dade on the School Board come from a variety of professional backgrounds. They have different priorities and varying campaign strategies.
But the race may come down to a single factor: fundraising.
Carlos Curbelo, a staffer for U.S. Sen. George LeMieux and political insider, has far outpaced the other candidates, amassing more than $126,000 in contributions.
School uniform entrepreneur Eddy Barea has the second largest war chest: about $34,000.
The other three candidates -- teacher Nathasha Alvarez, School Board assistant Libby Perez and FIU student Juliana Velez -- have raised significantly less money and are considered the underdogs heading into Tuesday's primary.
``When you have an open seat, 90 percent of the time, the person who raises the most money wins,'' said Wayne Blanton, executive director of the Florida School Boards Association.
Of course, stranger things have happened in Miami-Dade School Board politics.
INCOMPLETE TERM
The candidates are competing to complete the two years left in School Board member Ana Rivas Logan's term. Logan is running for the state House.
To win in Tuesday's primary, a candidate must secure more than half the vote. If nobody does, the top two will go head-to-head in the November election.
The race is widely expected to come down to Barea and Curbelo, who has the key endorsement from the United Teachers of Dade.
Curbelo, 30, is the founder of Capitol Gains, a Miami-based public and media relations firm. He worked on Republican campaigns for Congress, governor and president before working for LeMieux.
Curbelo has campaign contributions from consulting companies, architecture firms, charter school operators, tobacco companies and law practices. He's also received money from lobbyists political action committees.
Curbelo said he ``appreciates the support,'' but said special interests would not influence him.
If elected, Curbelo said he would fight to restore the funding that was once given to school districts where the cost of living is high. ``I can leverage my relationships with our state legislative delegation to help reestablish [that funding],'' he said.
K-8 CENTERS
Curbelo would also like to make traditional public schools more competitive with charter and private schools. One way of doing that, he said, is establishing more K-8 centers.
``It's obvious that our elementary schools are the most successful. They are smaller and parents stay more involved,'' he said. ``Why don't we invest more in that model and keep the kids in small schools?''
Barea, 50, runs Ibiley Uniforms, a school uniform company that has been designated as a ``preferred vendor'' in more than half of Miami-Dade schools.
Barea asked the state Commission on Ethics if his serving on the School Board would create a conflict of interest. The commission said no.
``The school board member's company sells uniforms to the parents of individual school children, not to the school district or its schools,'' ethics commissioners wrote.
Barea is campaigning on his experience, both as a businessman and in the school district. He currently serves on the parent group that oversees the school district's $4.3 billion budget and has been involved on multiple school advisory councils.
His priorities include promoting parent involvement and improving the overall image of school system, especially in the eyes of state lawmakers.
``We need to show them why they should properly fund our school system,'' he said.
Alvarez, 40, is a language arts teacher at Jane S. Roberts K-8 Center. She has 14 years of classroom experience.
As someone who was born with brittle bone disease and uses a wheelchair, Alvarez has long been an advocate for people with disabilities. While attending Miami Sunset Senior High, she fought to get ramps placed outside the portable classrooms.
Alvarez is a regular speaker at School Board meetings. She is also a founding member of the Miami Educators Alliance, a professional organization for educators who have been critical of the school district.
If elected, Alvarez would make sure the funding for special needs students is used properly. She would also fight against cronyism and cut spending on programs teachers consider wasteful.
``I also want to establish more partnerships with our communities,'' she said. ``We need more internships for children.''
She has raised about $6,000.
AIDE TO MEMBER
Perez, 45, has spent four years as an assistant to School Board member Marta Pérez, to whom she is not related. She took a leave of absence from the post before launching her campaign, she said.
Perez wants to work to increase transparency throughout the district, particularly when it comes to construction and procurement. She also wants to curtail the role of special interests.
``If you look at my campaign contributions, you see that this is a grass-roots effort,'' she said. ```The only special interest I care to serve is children.''
Perez has raised $18,000 for her campaign. Donors include Marta Pérez and former School Board member Frank Cobo.
``It's important to have someone who knows the system and is able to make an immediate difference,'' she said.
Velez, 23, is a student at Florida International University. She also manages her family's pharmaceutical business and is director of the Abraham Lincoln Foundation, which hosts debates and forums on education.
Velez, who has raised about $3,000, could not be reached for comment. But in a Miami Herald Editorial Board questionnaire, she wrote that she opposes cutting from classrooms.
``It is time to be pragmatic, innovative and creative to utilize the resources we already have,'' she wrote.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/19/v-fullstory/1782631/5-campaigning-for-open-seat-on.html#ixzz14HqCkaLn
No comments:
Post a Comment