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Bush launches plan to battle illiteracy
By ALISA ULFERTS, Times Staff Writer TALLAHASSEE -- Like his brother in Washington, Gov. Jeb Bush is raising an army. But Bush the younger is dispatching his soldiers to fight illiteracy. "Our hope is that we have thousands of volunteers in our reading army," Bush said Wednesday in announcing a state partnership with Florida cities to recruit mentors for young students. Standing with Bush were St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker and Dade City Mayor Scott Black, whose cities already have mentoring programs. Other cities that want to follow suit will get help and guidance from the state under the new initiative, Bush said. Baker said 130 city workers in St. Petersburg have signed up to spend one hour a week -- on city time -- with a student who may need extra help in school or life. Baker said he also is raising money from St. Petersburg businesses for scholarships for students who complete the mentoring program. He declined to say how much has been raised so far, but promised an announcement in a couple of weeks. Bush said he hopes to increase the number of mentors in the state from 72,000 to 200,000 in the next few years. Black, president of the Florida League of Cities, said more than 30 cities have committed to the initiative. That interest led Bush to declare January as the first Mentor Month in Florida. Also attending Wednesday's ceremony was Burgess Brown, the seventh-grade Raa Middle School student in Tallahassee whom Bush has mentored since the beginning of the school year. Wearing a Green Bay Packers jacket and a shy grin, the 12-year-old shared how the hour he spends with Bush on Friday mornings has paid off. "He has helped me get better grades than I did last year," Brown said. Bush said he was a bigger help to Brown on a recent project about Nevada than he has been in other subjects. "The math is the part I have the hardest time with. I dominate at social studies," Bush said.
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From the Times state desk
From the state wire
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