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Education stays at top of Rick Baker's agenda

He's proud of his achievements, though some may be overstated.

By DONNA WINCHESTER
Published November 3, 2005

	St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker is touting education achievements as he campaigns for reelection. It's Your Times: Share your views on next Tuesday's election

ST. PETERSBURG - Rarely does Mayor Rick Baker speak publicly without bringing up the topic of education.

He knows the number of mentors at each public school in the city, many of whom his office has recruited and trained. He can recite a school's letter grades on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test dating back to 1999.

He routinely speaks of his close ties to school superintendent Clayton Wilcox, the School Board and the Pinellas Education Foundation, relationships which he says are vital to creating and maintaining a high-performing school system.

And since launching his first mayoral campaign in 2000, he has cited improving schools as among his top goals.

Now, as his campaign for a second term draws to a close, education remains a priority for Baker. But this time around, rather than making promises, he is claiming a series of accomplishments.

Chief among them: The city now boasts 13 "A" elementary schools, up from four when he became mayor. He attributes at least some of that improvement to a network of mentoring programs he set up that match corporate sponsors to individual schools.

"In a perfect world, I'd like every single school to be an A school," Baker said in a recent interview. "When you look at what we've done so far, I think that's realistic."

While Pinellas educators universally welcome his help, some bristle at any suggestion that Baker is leading school district efforts at improvement. And a St. Petersburg Times review of Baker's claims shows he has overstated his role in a few specific cases.

Baker's literature states that he recruited approximately 70 corporate sponsors for partnerships at 47 schools. Among those listed on his Web site is a partnership between Mount Vernon Elementary, a school, where 78 percent of the children qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and Raymond James Financial.

But the partnership actually was established through a statewide initiative called Partnership to Advance School Success, not the mayor's office.

Similarly, Baker lists corporate partners at Meadowlawn Middle, Riviera Middle and Sexton Elementary which were actually enacted before Baker was elected. A few others, including a partnership between Melrose Elementary and the Times, came about through direct relationships between the schools and the companies.

Baker said he never meant to imply he had arranged all the partnerships himself.

"There were a lot of companies that were working with schools, but there were no partners per se," he said. "When we came in, we offered them the opportunity to be part of the partnership program."

School administrators uniformly praise the mayor's initiatives, regardless of the details. Mount Vernon principal Peggy S. Pearson credits the partnership there for turning the "three-time D school" into a "double A school."

"I would say he should get the credit for making sure every school in St. Petersburg got a partner," Pearson said. "He's really pushed forward with that."

At Meadowlawn Middle, the partnership with Franklin Templeton Funds Management dates back to 1993, nearly a decade before Baker became mayor. Last year the school's FCAT grade improved to a B after six straight years of C's. Principal Gregory Cardone is quite content to give Baker credit.

"I think he understands that if we're going to move St. Petersburg ahead, he had better start with the youth," Cardone said. "I don't see him doing a lot of talking and not walking behind it."

School district administrators say that his interventions may have helped schools earn higher grades on the FCAT. But they say it is impossible to quantify the exact impact of the initiatives.

"It's like they ratcheted up that scrutiny, but his efforts don't stand alone," said Jan Rouse, an associate superintendent in charge of curriculum. "We have increased our FCAT scores countywide. His efforts supplement and add benefit to many of the instructional activities that are taking place in our schools."

Baker, whose own children attend a private Christian school, says good schools are vital to a city's health.

"You can stop any five people on the street and ask them what's important to them," he said. "You would be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't mention schools."

He is careful to say that none of his initiatives have been undertaken without the full knowledge and approval of the School Board and superintendent Wilcox, with whom he meets regularly.

"Beyond all the good things he does, I am grateful that he respects the fact that I am the superintendent," Wilcox said. "He goes out of his way to make sure his efforts align with the direction in which the system is going."

Wilcox said that while he has good relationships with mayors in other Pinellas cities, none match the one he has with Baker.

"I've not yet seen too many other mayors who roll up their sleeves on a regular basis," Wilcox said. "I'm not familiar with another mayor who has education as part of his policy."

Some of Baker's other education initiatives extend beyond the classroom. One program lends public schoolteachers $14,000 toward the down payment on a home in the city and forgives the loan if the teacher stays with the district for 10 years. Another program has awarded 500 scholarships to underprivileged children who promise to work hard and stay in school. And five state-of-the-art joint-use playgrounds have been built at elementary schools with city dollars.

School Board member Linda Lerner said she is pleased with Baker's focus on education.

"In getting mentors and tutors, he's been a catalyst for providing more support for schools," she said. "Most of the things he's done have been motherhood and apple pie. How can anyone argue with that?"

Education experts say cooperative efforts between cities and school districts require close cooperation to work, especially in the realm of corporate partnerships.

"Some partnerships are window dressing, feel-good kinds of things that are more about appearances and less about substance," said Paul Reville, a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. "Other partnerships go right to the heart of teaching and learning. Obviously, all schools could use resources, but it's more about what you do with the resources than how much you have that makes a difference."

Still, some principals say the "feel-good" things are important, too. Among the perks corporate partner Gregory Sharer and Stuart have bestowed upon Westgate Elementary are $25 gift certificates for staff members' birthdays.

"It's a morale booster," said principal Terry Krasner. "If you have happy teachers, you have happy children."

If the voters grant him a second term on Tuesday, Baker says he plans to intensify his efforts with middle and high schools, admittedly more difficult to turn around than elementary schools. Among his ideas are expanding vocational and technical programs for secondary school students and finding more mentors and tutors to work with children who struggle.

He also wants to work through the National League of Cities, which will meet in St. Petersburg this winter, to promote programs that have been successful here.

"This is a time when cities are starting to come to the understanding that they have to be involved in their schools," Baker said. "The more publicity we have for our programs, the more people will get involved with them."

[Last modified November 3, 2005, 01:22:05]