Citizens with little connection to schools backed the increase for classroom programs and teacher raises.
By THOMAS C. TOBIN and MONIQUE FIELDS
Published November 4, 2004
If the parents of every child in Pinellas schools had participated in Tuesday's election, their numbers would not have come close to the 264,515 people who voted to raise school taxes for classroom programs and teacher raises.
The margin was overwhelming.
How does that happen in an older, tax-conscious and mostly Republican county?
The answer may sound surprising: strong support from people who have nothing to do with public schools.
The measure passed with 64 percent of the vote, much of it from some of the county's most reliable voters: the 41 percent of the electorate older than 55.
For thousands of these voters - retired and not plugged into public schools - a sense of the school system's place in society appears to have overshadowed pocketbook concerns.
"I don't think you get to 64 percent without significant support from people who are outside the school system," said Beth Rawlins, the political consultant who ran the campaign promoting the tax.
"It's a message of self-sacrifice on the part of the voters," said Clearwater attorney Ed Armstrong, a veteran political observer who supported the campaign. "People aren't always selfish on matters like this."
Many Pinellas voters seem to have connected with one of the central messages of the campaign - that today's schoolchildren will be dominating the workforce in 10 to 15 years. They will be the people staffing offices and firehouses, hospitals and stores.
"Tell me it has not crossed your mind when somebody with blue hair and a nose ring can't count your change at the register," Rawlins said.
A campaign video emphasized the point that lower dropout rates mean lower crime and less public money spent on social services. "It really does translate to quality of life," Rawlins said. "On some level, people really do understand that."
Much of the campaign's $50,000 budget was used on cable television ads that targeted the 55-and-older audience. The spots were aired at high viewing times for seniors and on channels such as Home & Garden and Discovery that attract older audiences.
But many voters did not need a campaign to make the connection between public schools and quality of life.
A poll of likely voters last year by the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association found that nearly 80 percent agreed that property values would decline if public schools slipped in quality.
More than 70 percent said they were concerned that the state's budget cuts would hurt the quality of public schools.
Pinellas joined the ranks of 20 counties that have voted to raise property or sales taxes in recent years to supplement state allotments for schools. Pinellas is the largest of those counties to approve a property tax. Its success on Tuesday will encourage more Florida districts to ask the same of their voters, said Wayne Blanton, executive director of the Florida School Boards Association.
"I believe if the Legislature is not going to fund public schools, then this is what many districts are going to have to do," Blanton said. "I think you're going to see a flood of these across the state."
Pinellas teacher Sara Coleman has two words for voters who supported the tax, whomever they were:
"Thank you."
The average raise of $3,200 that teachers are expected to receive next year will more than offset the $2,500 she spends annually on materials and supplies at Blanton Elementary, she said.
Blanton first-grade teacher Marie Glover said of the vote: "For the first time in many years, it made me feel good and appreciated for what we do."
The measure will increase property taxes by 50 cents for every $1,000 of taxable value. For the owner of a $150,000 home with a $25,000 homestead exemption, it will mean an increase of $62.50 a year.
Eighty percent of the money will be used to bring teacher salaries closer to the national average of $49,000. The Pinellas average is about $41,000.
The remaining 20 percent will be used to bolster reading, music and art programs and to buy more textbooks and computers.
Pinellas officials say the raises will help recruiting efforts as the district competes nationally for a dwindling pool of college graduates with education degrees. It also should help retain young teachers, many of whom leave the profession in their first five years.
"If we make sure (the money) is used the way we all hope, then we're going to keep our good teachers," said Kathryn Geraghty, a social studies teacher at Dixie Hollins High School.
Geraghty said she hopes teachers who take on part-time jobs and opt out of sponsoring extracurricular activities can quit those jobs and spend more time in the schools.
"We know there are a lot of needs in this district," she said. "I'm sure there are teachers who will probably be able to pay their bills."
Twenty years ago, Pinellas frequently lived up to its reputation as a county that was wary of new taxes, said Armstrong, the Clearwater attorney. That changed with the passage of the 10-year Penny for Pinellas sales tax in 1990, and again in 2000, he said.
Today, he said, Pinellas voters are receptive to new taxes if advocates can make a solid case and prove the benefits.
He said of Tuesday's vote: "This is a real "trust me' by the voters and I hope the elected officials utilize the funds judiciously."
