Women Can Run launches in Tallahassee July 8th!

 I am pretty excited about this upcoming event -- "Women Can Run!" I have served on the planning committee for this program and we're in our 2nd year of event planning. The 2013-14 program series is set to launch in a week!

The launch party for this non-partisan program is July 8th at Hotel Duval!

ABOUT OASIS

Women Can Run! is a project of The Oasis Center for Women and Girls, Inc. Founded in 2007, Oasis is a nonprofit organization in Tallahassee whose mission is to "Improve the lives of women and girls through celebration and support". We are focused on personal, professional, and economic concerns facing women, girls and their families. We are committed to addressing these issues individually through the provision of direct services and collectively through community dialogue and awareness.

ABOUT WOMEN CAN RUN!

Women Can Run! is a non-partisan, issue-neutral program of Oasis that aims to increase the number of women running for elected leadership locally. The program is presented in partnership with Leadership Tallahassee and the League of Women Voters of Florida’s Education Fund. This is the third year that we have received funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation for this innovative project.

 We believe that women should be adequately represented at all levels of elected leadership and bring important and diverse perspectives to the table. This year, the Women Can Run! program  is for women in our community (Leon, Gadsden, Wakulla and Jefferson counties) who may be interested in running for office or working on political campaigns in the future.

Through a series of workshops that will be open to the public and a more intensive cohort program for a selected group of women, we will explore topics related to choosing your office, preparing to run, fundraising, messaging, media relations, managing a campaign, the legal aspects of running for office and more.

ABOUT THE WOMEN CAN RUN! COHORT

The Women Can Run! Cohort is a more intensive training and capacity building program for women who would seriously consider candidacy in the future. Cohort members participate in monthly workshops from July 2013 – June 2014. These workshops include the Women Can Run! Launch Party in July, 2013, six workshops that are open to the public, four workshops that are more intensive for cohort members only and the Women Can Run! Full-Day Institute in June, 2014. Additionally, Women Can Run! Cohort members will have three one-on-one sessions with professional campaign consultants and receive the Women Can Run! Campaign Resource Manual. 

 WHERE
Hotel Duval—Sunrise Room
415 N Monroe St
Tallahassee, FL 32301
WHEN
Monday, July  8, 2013
5:30-7:00pm 

PRICING & INFORMATION
TO RSVP, VISIT:
www.TheOasisCenter.net

OR CONTACT:
Emily Ayers
Registration for the Launch
Party is FREE. 

We will have hors d'oeuvres 
and cash bar. Parking costs
$3.00.

There will be time for mixing
and mingling and a short
presentation about the program.

Elizabeth Colbert Busch to speak at DWCF Convention Sep 26-29

The Democratic Women's Club of Florida announces speakers for state convention in September. The block of rooms is filling quickly, make your reservations today!

Action Alert - Save the Wakulla Wetlands Ordinance - 5 pm June 17 in Crawfordville

The following agenda item will be heard and voted on during the June 17^th Wakulla County Commission meeting at 5 pm in the Commission chambers at 29 Arran Road, Suite 101, in Crawfordville.

9. Commissioner Merritt -
a. Request Board Approval to Direct Staff to Revise the Comprehensive Plan to Allow the BOCC to Grant Variances inside the 35 Foot Wetland Buffer Zone And to Remove Isolated Wetlands From Wetlands Regulations

This measure was defeated the last time it was proposed. However, a new county commission has been elected and the current board members appear inclined to represent land developers rather than Wakulla citizens. Without a serious citizen-led opposition effort, this measure will pass on June 17.

It seems ironic that while Wakulla citizens wait on BP settlement funds to restore our local ecology, we have elected officials advocating for variance changes that will contribute to further environmental deterioration.  If these commissioners have their way, the new Wakulla Environmental Institute will only be able to offer opportunities to study the ecological history of the beautiful wetlands that we used to have.

Rachel Sutz Pienta

Chair, Wakulla Democratic Executive Committee

Alternate Representative, Wakulla RESTORE Act Committee

If you cannot attend tonight's meeting, please call or email all the commissioners today.

 COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
District 1 Ralph Thomas 926-0919, ext. 709 597-3858 926-0940 rthomas@mywakulla.com
District 2 Randy Merritt 926-0919, ext. 708 545-2451 926-0940 rmerritt@mywakulla.com
District 3 Howard Kessler 926-0919, ext. 710 597-3856 926-0940 hkessler@mywakulla.com
District 4 Moore, Jerry 926-0919, ext. 711 363-5382 926-0940 jmoore@mywakulla.com
District 5 Richard Harden 926-0919, ext 712 597-3857 926-0940 rharden@mywakulla.com

Gwen Graham completes first work day!

Gwen Graham, Democratic candidate for the Congressional District 2 seat in 2014, did her first work day of the campaign with popular food truck "Street Chefs" in Tallahassee this week.

Graham's father, former governor and senator Bob Graham, completed many work days at various jobs in Florida during his political career. Graham, like her father Bob Graham before her, plans to do "work days" throughout her campaign. She is running to unseat Panama City Republican Steve Southerland.

Wetlands? What wetlands?

The following agenda item will be heard and voted on during the June 17^th Wakulla County Commission meeting at 5 pm in the Commission chambers at 29 Arran Road, Suite 101, in Crawfordville.

9. Commissioner Merritt -
a. Request Board Approval to Direct Staff to Revise the Comprehensive Plan to Allow the BOCC to Grant Variances inside the 35 Foot Wetland Buffer Zone And to Remove Isolated Wetlands From Wetlands Regulations

Preserving Wakulla’s wetlands ordinance shouldn’t be a partisan issue. Across the aisle agreement on how to preserve the ecology of our county as the best local resource we have to stimulate the economy should be easy to achieve. However, the fact that this issue is coming back now that the County Commission party composition has changed leads me to believe that our local Republicans represent developers rather than Wakulla citizens.

It is a shame that we lost Commissioner Alan Brock in the last election. He was an advocate for a strong and sensible wetlands ordinance. He did not cave to the pressures of the developers. With the support of Commissioners Mike Stewart and Lynn Artz, he managed to stop this proposal the last time Commissioner Randy brought it up.

It appears that Commissioners Jerry Moore, Randy Merritt and Ralph Thomas have all committed to getting rid of the wetlands ordinance. Without a serious effort by citizens to express opposition, it looks like the anti-wetlands commissioners will finally get their way.

We used to have some balance on our County Commission. I believe in the system of checks and balances. Florida ran into trouble when one party held all the seats in the legislature. Now that the Democratic Party has been able to break the super majority, some balance has been restored to the legislative process.

People often try to pretend the Republican Party is the party of Nixon, that the GOP is the party protecting the environment while cutting spending - but that isn't so. Nixon's cuts still left us with taxes at a higher percentage per capita than we pay today- so we could still maintain services. 

It seems ironic that we are waiting on BP settlement funds to restore our local ecology while we advocate for variance changes that will contribute to further environmental deterioration.  If these commissioners have their way, the new Wakulla Environmental Institute will only be able to offer opportunities to study the ecological history of the beautiful wetlands that we used to have.

Rachel Sutz Pienta

Chair, Wakulla Democratic Executive Committee

Education in Florida: From the Sociologist's Perspective

 Last month, Sage released Sociology of Education: An A-to-Z Guide, edited by James Ainsworth. I had the opportunity to write the chapter on Education in Florida. I have included an excerpt from the chapter below. 

The book is intended to be purchased by college libraries and used as a college textbook.

http://www.sagepub.com/books/Book237016 

On the state level, in Florida, education reform efforts have historically outpaced national trends.  Between 1976 and 1984, the Florida Legislature initiated more educational reform than the legislative body of any other state (McCloskey et al., 1987).  In fact, by 1984, Florida had enacted laws in sixteen of the twenty categories recorded in A Nation at Risk (Cohn and Kottkamp, 1993).  Additional legislation enacted during these years implemented performance-based provisions for certification and evaluation of teachers and principals as well as an individual-level merit pay mandate (Florida Meritorious Teacher Program) and a school-level merit pay mandate known as the Quality Instruction Incentive Program (Cohn and Kottkamp, 1993). 

Since the 1980s, Florida has led the nation in several areas of education reform.  In the area of school governance, for example, Florida has implemented deregulatory strategies such as a policy strategy that allows some schools to become charter schools that, via a waiver process, can request exemption from some aspects of state control (Herrington, 1998).  Charter school proponents believe that the schools offer “an evolutionary solution to educational problems by providing a framework grounded in a comprehensive and clear understanding of societal needs and the role of education in meeting those needs” (Evans et al, 1999, p. 20). In Florida, charter schools, along with the more controversial voucher system, form part of the larger school choice policy framework promoted by the state’s governor (Herrington and Weider, 2001; Elam, 1999; Evans et al, 1999).

While the state has implemented deregulatory strategies with one hand, it has increased the emphasis on performance-based formulas for funding with the other hand (Herrington, 1998). For example, by implementing such programs as the 1999 Florida A+ Plan, Florida policymakers have linked school choice and performance-based accountability within the same plan (Cohen-Vogel, 2003; Herrington and Weider, 2001).  Florida’s A+ Plan, in this instance, predated the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Similarly, No Child Left Behind (NLCB) combines choice and accountability. The federal legislation holds schools to stricter standards of accountability for student results, gives districts increased flexibility and greater local control to achieve those results, provides expanded school choice options for parents, and places a strong emphasis on proven instructional methods (Chapman, 2005). 

In Florida, voter referendums in the form of constitutional amendments have represented one recent strategy for implementing reforms in education policy. In 2002, for example, two education policy initiatives were presented to the Florida electorate as referendums. One referendum allowed Floridians to pass a constitutional amendment that would require the state to institute universal Pre-K education by Fall 2005 (Kirp, 2004). On the same ballot, Florida voters also approved a constitutional amendment to limit class size (Rose, 2003).

Policy initiatives such as the universal Pre-K program and the class size amendment have exacerbated the ongoing teacher shortage in the state.  Florida, in response to the combined impetus of the growing teacher shortage and the federally mandated No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), began to allow school districts to offer a “competency-based, alternative professional preparation/certification program” to bring new teachers into the profession (Brewer, 2003, p. 3). 

Florida, like many states, has increased teacher recruitment efforts while also examining ways to keep current teachers in the classroom. Recent research in the area of teacher retention indicates that induction programs play a key role in retaining teachers (Watlington et al, 2004; Monsour, 2003).  In Florida, teacher retention efforts have been implemented in the form of induction programs such as Broward County’s New Educator Support System (NESS) (Watlington et al, 2004).  A district-level initiative, NESS’s key components include “district-wide mentoring, staff development, and technological assistance for all new hires” (Watlington et al, 2004, p. 56).  The next section of this chapter will examine teacher induction programs and the roles such programs can play in how teachers construct their work lives. 

I will be doing some related writing this summer on Education issues - including a look at the evolution of Florida's anti-bullying laws and also an analysis of recent changes in the governance of early learning programs.