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For teacher, a new spot to foster change
By MAUREEN BYRNE AHERN SEMINOLE -- Mary Russell says she hasn't had time to take a deep breath since winning a seat Tuesday on the Pinellas County School Board. But she's ready for her life to get back to normal. For the past three months, she has been on the campaign trail -- meeting with voters, coming home late, missing her husband and two young sons. "I kept telling them, "On Sept. 11 you can have mom back,' " Russell said Thursday, sitting on a plush, tan couch in her tidy living room. Yet as the county prepares to implement a controversial choice plan -- assigning students to schools using parental choice as a transition away from neighborhood zoning and forced busing -- Russell's life may be busier than ever during the next four years. The choice plan begins next fall, and the seven board members have a lot of work to do as they wade through the plan's complex details, such as transportation issues. Russell, 31, will be sworn into office in November. "I think people are scared of the changes going on," she said. Russell wants to allay those fears by communicating more simply to parents. She wants to make more information available on the Internet and more money available for the schools that few parents choose. Making choice more user-friendly is just one of many changes Russell wants. Although she loves teaching, she says there are many problems with the school district: high burnout rate among teachers, too much pressure on the FCAT (Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test), zero tolerance policies, too much bureaucracy. She says the district must improve its high school graduation rate, listen to the community and continue to maintain diverse schools, especially after switching to the school choice program. "It's a system problem," said Russell, a family literacy teacher for the school district. "It's not the teachers. It's not the kids. It's not the parents." For many, Russell represents the real thing. She's a public school teacher. She's a mom of two children in public schools. And she attended Pinellas schools: Seminole Elementary, Madeira Beach Middle and Seminole High. She says voters chose her because she is close to the issues. Supporters say that is why a virtual unknown in Pinellas politics was able to unseat incumbent Max Gessner, a former private school administrator whose campaign account was 10 times the size of hers. Gessner raised more than $60,000 -- a record-breaking amount -- and spent the money on a professional consultant, billboards and 1,000 yard signs. Russell raised slightly more than $6,000 and ran her campaign herself. "She had a consistent message, which voters beyond those who work in the school system believe," said Allin Turner of Clearwater, 58, a retired Pinellas public school teacher and Russell's volunteer campaign manager. "And it was that the school system wasn't listening to teachers and parents and they need to do a much better job at that." Russell plans to take a leave of absence from the school district while on the board. She'll earn $35,391 annually, about $4,000 more than her current salary. She says she'd like to give back the difference to teachers so they can buy classroom supplies. Russell says it took her eight years to earn an associate's degree from St. Petersburg Junior College, now St. Petersburg College. It took longer than usual because she had to work her way through school. She also took breaks when her two sons were born. "That slows down the college track a bit," said Russell, who has a bachelor's degree in education from the University of South Florida. Russell has taught in the Pinellas school district since 1998. She worked as a fifth-grade teacher at Orange Grove Elementary School in Seminole for two years before transferring to Anona Elementary School in Largo. She taught fourth grade there for a year. With only three years on the job, she says, it didn't take long before she became frustrated. Although she says she is passionate about public education, she grew more and more frustrated with the long hours, pressure from the FCAT and lack of support for teachers from administrators out of touch with the classroom. She asked for a transfer to a job with better hours. Last year she moved to Pinellas Technical Education Center in St. Petersburg, where she teaches in the Even Start program. The federally funded family literacy program helps parents earn their General Educational Development certificates and learn parenting skills. Instead of letting the system burn her out, Russell says, she decided to work on changing it. She helped found Teachers United for the Future, a grass roots group that brings together district employees and the community to advocate for students and teachers. And she decided to run for the School Board. Matthew Russell, 8, and Evan Russell, 10, are used to it by now. Mom is busy discussing public education to a reporter. They politely interrupt her a couple of times -- Matthew doesn't see why he has to brush his hair before going to a dinner -- but they manage on their own with Dad's help. Jim Russell, 35, cooked plenty of macaroni and cheese dinners and folded a lot of laundry while his wife was on the campaign trail. Russell works for the information technology department for Pinellas County. He says with all the publicity his wife received lately, his colleagues at work jokingly call him Mr. Mary Russell. The couple met at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Seminole when they were teenagers. Mary Russell's family moved to Seminole from Oklahoma City when she was 2. She and her husband live in a three-bedroom house in an unincorporated area near Seminole. Champagne-colored vehicles sit in the driveway. She drives a Pontiac Grand Am; he drives a Ford truck. Their home is a busy place, with two active sons and four pets: a mutt named Trouble and three cats, Sparky, Mischief and Jade. The front porch shows signs of busy lives: a pair of brown pumps, two Razor scooters, purple and white campaign signs, a Playmate cooler. Matthew and Evan attend Bauder Elementary School. Evan, a fifth-grader, says he volunteered as his mom's campaign manager for a while, but stopped when the campaign heated up. But he didn't stop telling his classmates their parents should vote for his mom. "I got a lot of votes there," he said.
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From the Times South Pinellas desks Letters |
