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School race more challenging this time for Miele

The District 1 School Board incumbent won by default; this year he faces two opponents.

By EDDY RAMIREZ
Published August 17, 2006

His only opponent, Don Bates, withdrew from the race after learning that the Times planned to publish an article about a 1994 indecent exposure arrest that he had kept secret from voters.

"It's just a shame that the voters didn't have the chance to decide," he said then.

Now, in his bid to win the same seat again, Miele faces two new challengers.

Candidate Paul Earnheart is a longtime physical education teacher at Rock Crusher Elementary School who wants to ease school crowding and place less emphasis on standardized testing.

Candidate Michael "Joey" White is a business owner and former Dunnellon city councilman who promises more fiscal responsibility and a better working relationship with state lawmakers.

So far, no single issue has become a lightning rod in the race.

Earnheart and White say they are not running against Miele because they think he has done a poor job but rather because they would bring a different perspective to the board.

White has suggested that Miele is out of touch with the needs of families and students who attend Citrus public schools because Miele sends his two children to a private Catholic school.

Miele has dismissed those criticisms, noting that he worked in the Citrus school system before he served on the board. He was a mentor and a teacher aide for children with special needs and students seeking vocational training.

Sending his children to Catholic school was a decision reached by the whole family, he said.

White has said he supports public schools teaching intelligent design in addition to the theory of evolution. Miele, on the other hand, has said that religion, including the concept of intelligent design, has no place in the public school system.

Earnheart said he is a religious man, but would not support schools teaching intelligent design.

More than his opponents, Earnheart has spoken at length about bringing more balance to the curriculum. He said the district is too focused on raising test scores. As a result, he said, students are not learning practical skills that would be useful in "the real world."

Too many students are leaving high school without knowing how to balance a checkbook or how to dress for a job interview, he said.

He supports using the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test but only as a tool to measure student performance at one point in time. He opposes a state program that would link teacher pay to student performance on the FCAT, saying there would be no fair way to reward teachers like him who don't teach FCAT subjects.

If elected, he said, he would fight the state for more control of the curriculum so that teachers have more flexibility to teach using more creative methods.

White said he supports taking some focus away from the FCAT, and putting more emphasis on vocational training programs. He said the district must do a better job of linking high school graduates with local employers.

A cattle rancher, White was incensed when he heard years ago that the district had scaled back the agriculture program at the high schools. He wants to see more students who are interested in agriculture and horticulture attend the University of Florida, which has a premier agricultural program.

All three candidates agree that perhaps the most immediate threat to student learning is overcrowding.

The district's three high schools are at or near enrollment capacity. A new elementary school is being built but there are no plans yet for a new high school.

Earnheart, whose oldest son is a sixth-grader, has being particularly vocal about overcrowding. He supports building a new high school, even if it means asking voters to approve a half-cent sales tax.

Miele also thinks Citrus will need another high school but has said he would oppose tax initiatives to finance the project. He has not specified an alternative funding source.

To address the short-term impact of crowding, Miele recently supported bringing prefabricated classrooms made of concrete to Lecanto High and CREST. The concrete classrooms can go up faster and are less expensive than regular buildings.

White also favors building a new high school and the use of concrete classrooms at existing schools.

All three candidates tout their business experience and say they would spend taxpayer dollars carefully. Miele is a real estate agent and White operates a landscaping business. Earnheart said he has a good business sense that comes from working with his wife, who runs a local speech therapy clinic.

All three candidates have had legal troubles.

Miele was convicted of drunken driving twice while he was in Connecticut, in 1984 and 1991.

Earnheart was charged in Pinellas County with possession and distribution of steroids in 1987. The judge in the case withheld adjudication of guilt. While Earnheart was not found guilty of anything, he was still ordered to serve one year of probation.

White was charged in February with three counts of driving in a reckless manner and almost hitting three people, including two children, in a case stemming from a custody battle with his ex-wife. White said the accusations made by his ex-wife and her employees are "totally fabricated." He has pleaded not guilty and the case is pending.

PAUL EARNHEART

Earnheart, 40, was born in Kansas City and lives in Citrus Springs. He graduated from Crystal River High in 1984 and earned an associate's degree from Central Florida Community College and a bachelor's degree from the University of Florida. Since 1996, he has worked as a teacher at Rock Crusher Elementary School. He previously worked as an instructor at the Key Pine Village and as a lifeguard for the county's Parks and Recreation Department. He and his wife, Lisa, have two sons, Hunter, 10, and Dylan, 9.

LOU MIELE

Miele, 47, was born in Huntington, N.Y., and lives in Beverly Hills. He came to the area in 1991 from Connecticut after his parents moved here. He worked as a teacher's aide at Rock Crusher Elementary School and ended up back in college, where he earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education from Saint Leo University. Crystal River Middle School offered him a job in exceptional student education. He also worked briefly at Forest Ridge Elementary School and two years at the Withlacoochee Technical Institute. In 2002, after receiving a master's in education from the University of Florida, he was elected to a four-year term on the School Board. He has served as the chairman the past year. He also is a real estate agent in Beverly Hills. He and his wife, Julie, have a daughter, Tiana, 10, and a son, Isaac, 6.

MICHAEL "JOEY" WHITE

White, 35, was born in Columbus, Ind., and lives in Lecanto. He moved to the area in 1984 and graduated from Dunnellon High School in 1989. He enlisted in the Army and served in Korea for a year. While attending Santa Fe Community College, he started a landscaping business. In 2002, he earned a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Saint Leo University. He worked for a year as an investigator with the Department of Children and Families and now works as a lawn care and landscaping contractor. He owns cattle in Citrus, Levy and Marion county farms. He is divorced and has a daughter.

Eddy Ramirez can be reached at eramirez@sptimes.com or 860-7305.

[Last modified August 17, 2006, 07:20:50]