Kyc: Pinellas school district at large

THE JOB
At-large School Board members can live anywhere in the county and are elected countywide. Of the seven board seats, five represent districts and two are at-large. Board members serve four-year terms and earn $35,391 annually.

Gessner, who is vying for his second term, said he has pushed the board to set goals to increase teacher salaries to the national average. At the same time, he said he knows reaching that goal will take several years and cooperation between the district and the teachers union.

Russell, he said, has pushed the board for exorbitant increases. "Maybe she doesn't understand the complexity of the issue," Gessner said.

Russell, who is running her first campaign, countered that she has specific ideas not only for raising salaries but also improving morale.

The School Board must build trust in the community and teach residents about the current budget crisis. Then, like other counties have recently done, the board could ask residents to tax themselves to support schools while lobbying the state for more funding.

The School Board, she said, also must stop asking employees to take on extra tasks and work overtime without pay and stop cutting school support staff, such as social workers and technology experts.

"There's a whole lot the School Board can do about the quality of life," she said.

Gessner says he has more experience with 37 years in education as a teacher, school principal and administrator. He says he has a more sophisticated understanding of the issues facing the school district, such as a new school choice plan.

"She's a teacher and can look at things from that vantage point," he said. "I have a wide ranging background from which to view different issues."

Russell argues that her experience is more relevant as a current teacher and a mom with two school-age children.

"I think we've had stability in our county for 30 years," Russell said. "What about the idea that if you were there when we started choice, you should have known big problems were coming?"

If re-elected, Gessner said he would advocate teaching phonics in early grades and would continue to support schools developing special theme programs to engage all children in learning and maintain diverse schools. Principals should be held accountable for increasing parental involvement, he said.

Russell said she would spent her first term in office pushing for more vocational training for students, more early intervention programs to help struggling students and more focus on "the basics" rather than special theme programs. She said choice plan procedures should be simplified and better communicated to the public.

With only two candidates in this race, the top vote-getter Tuesday will be elected.

THE CANDIDATES

MAX GESSNER, 63, was the founder of Indian Rocks Christian School and associate pastor at First Baptist Church of Indian Rocks before his retirement in 1999. He has also been a public school teacher, baseball coach, principal and administrator. He graduated from St. Petersburg High School and has a bachelor's degree from Atlantic Christian College in Wilson, N.C. He also has a master's of education from Middle Tennessee State University and a doctorate in education administration from the University of Southern Mississippi. He has served on numerous community boards, including R'Club Child Care Inc., Pinellas Marine Institute and Pinellas Association for Retarded Children. He is married, lives in St. Petersburg and has two grown children. ASSETS: two homes, rental property, retirement investments. LIABILITIES: mortgage. SOURCE OF INCOME: School Board salary, retirement income, rental property.

MARY LEE RUSSELL, 31, is a family literacy teacher at Pinellas Technical Education Centers in St. Petersburg. Her work experience includes one year as a records clerk at the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office and freelance writing for Mahaffey Theater. She graduated from Seminole High School. She earned an associate's degree from St. Petersburg Junior College and a bachelor's degree in elementary education from the University of South Florida. Russell, who is in the Navy Reserves, is one of the founding members of Teachers United for the Future, a grass-roots school advocacy group. She is married, lives in Seminole and has two sons who attend Bauder Elementary School. ASSETS: home, rental property, savings. LIABILITIES: mortgages, student loans, consumer credit. SOURCE OF INCOME: teaching salary, rental property, Navy. WEB SITE: www.votemaryrussell.com.