In 1976, as supervisor of health services and education for the Pasco school district, she took the initiative to begin a new slate of health programs. She persuaded School Board members to approve the ideas, assembled a team of nurses, raised money from outside sources and enlisted the cooperation of teachers and administrators.
The efforts led to the Cyesis program aimed at keeping pregnant teens from dropping out, full-service schools offering basic services in isolated areas, and a widely respected human growth and development curriculum.
It has been 12 years since Whaley moved from administrator to School Board member, but her ideas continue to shine.
When parents lamented the inability of their children to walk with their graduating classes because of FCAT failures, Whaley went to work. She persuaded the administration, through a literacy grant, to establish learning specialists at each of the nine high schools. Sophomores who fail the FCAT are identified and given extra help from the specialists, who coordinate the remedial programs and work with parents and students.
It exemplifies why Whaley needs to be retained as a member of the Pasco School Board as the district faces uncertain leadership. The retirement of superintendent John Long and School Board member Pam Coulter means new people will be guiding the district, Pasco's largest employer, charged with educating 57,000 children. Stability has been one of the leading characteristics of the highly regarded district, and Whaley would provide an imperative anchor amid the changes around her.
Whaley also should be commended for not shying away from politically controversial topics. She was a leading advocate of easing school crowding through new impact fees and a sales tax increase to finance new school construction, and has pushed for voters to make the superintendent's position appointed instead of elected.
She is being challenged for the District 2 School Board seat by Ryan O'Reilly and Patricia Murphy, neither of whom demonstrates a satisfactory understanding of the mission facing public educators.
O'Reilly graduated from Saint Leo University 11 months ago with a bachelor's degree in political science. He is a substitute teacher and also works for his family's fledgling home building business. He is a member of the citizens committee reviewing the county's comprehensive growth plan, has done volunteer work through his church and, as a teenager, worked side by side with Zephyrhills City Manager Steve Spina surveying residents of the Otis Moody neighborhood in advance of infrastructure improvements in that neighborhood.
O'Reilly's platform calls for more discipline in the classroom and better nutrition in the lunchroom. Though he has some firsthand knowledge of public schools through substitute teaching, he is largely uninformed. He doesn't understand the different roles played by the Marchman and Moore-Mickens vocational schools versus the alternative schools, the Harry Schwettman and James Irvin education centers for troubled students whose behavior got them kicked out of their regular schools.
Most notably, O'Reilly offered heavy criticism of the prekindergarten program, labeling it a babysitting service, even though he hasn't visited a pre-K classroom or familiarized himself with the curriculum. "I don't know what they're doing," he acknowledged.
O'Reilly should get a better understanding of the program. Then he might know why Gov. Jeb Bush recognized the importance of pre-K and endorsed the constitutional amendment that calls for universal pre-K by 2005.
O'Reilly plans for a career in public service, perhaps as a collegiate political science professor. It's a noble calling, but his limited life experience and lack of research leave him ill prepared to serve as a Pasco School Board member at the outset of his career.
Murphy grew up and attended schools in Tarpon Springs, where she still works. She and her husband moved to Land O'Lakes about five years ago. They have no children, but Murphy said her interest in schools was sparked by the Penny for Pasco campaign, which she supported, and by the fact that her nieces and nephews would attend school in Pasco if their families opt for public school education.
Murphy is pleasant and is motivated by a desire to help children, but she offers no constructive ideas. She, too, is mistaken about the district's shortcomings. She erroneously cites a bullying case in the state of Washington as occurring in Pasco County, and she parrots O'Reilly's examples of disruptive behavior, for which he believed students faced no consequences.
The Times strongly recommends that voters re-elect Marge Whaley to the District 2 School Board seat in the Aug. 31 nonpartisan election.
OPPORTUNITY TO REPLY
The Times offers candidates not recommended by its editorial board an opportunity to reply. School Board candidates should send replies no later than 5 p.m. Monday to: C.T. Bowen, Pasco editor of editorials, St. Petersburg Times, 11321 U.S. 19, Port Richey, FL 34668. Fax: 727 869-6233. They can be e-mailed to Bowen@sptimes.com or sent through our Web site at www.sptimes.com/letters Replies are limited to 250 words.
