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Education

Wilcox takes sides in race

He publicly expresses support for two School Board candidates, citing the need for a black member.

By THOMAS C. TOBIN
Published August 31, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG - In an usual step for the top administrator of a school district, superintendent Clayton Wilcox on Wednesday offered strong public support to two School Board candidates, Mary Brown and Lew Williams.

"I'm nervous," Wilcox told an audience of mostly black St. Petersburg residents as he outlined the electoral dynamics that might present themselves in Tuesday's election. "We cannot afford to let the day pass when we have an African-American on our School Board."

He noted that Brown, who is black and a sitting board member, faces challenges from two black candidates, Ray Tampa and Minetha Morris. He said the trio could split support among black voters in the south Pinellas District 7 race and allow a white candidate to supplant Brown on the board.

The District 7 field includes two white candidates, Jennifer Crockett and Sheldon Schwartz.

Williams, who is black, is running in the at-large District 3 race against four white candidates. Wilcox said he hoped Williams did well but acknowledged it might be difficult for a black candidate to win countywide.

He expressed particular fondness for Brown, stopping short of an endorsement but making his preference clear.

"She has suffered in my defense on a number of occasions," Wilcox told the group.

It was the second time in recent days he publicly supported Brown, after giving a short speech about her at City Hall last week.

His latest remarks came Wednesday night in front of about 50 people, most of them black, at a forum sponsored by the African American Voters Research Education Committee, known as AAVREC. The group is one of several working with Wilcox to close the achievement gap between white and black students.

Superintendents, who serve at the pleasure of school boards, generally stay above the fray in elections. Taking sides raises the risk of offending a future boss. But Wilcox said his remarks were worth the risk.

"While my job is not supposed to be political ... I think it is innately political on one level," he said in an interview after the forum, noting that the district is dealing with the achievement gap and soon will be deciding the future of its racial desegregation efforts.

"If (black) people don't see themselves in this process, I just question whether or not they'll accept it," he said. "And I think that means at the highest levels of the organization."

With Tampa and Morris sitting in the audience, Wilcox praised both candidates as talented people. But the resulting tension prompted leaders of AAVREC to give all the candidates in the room a chance to make a 60-second campaign speech.

Afterward, Tampa said he found the superintendent's remarks inappropriate. They show that Brown is too accepting of Wilcox's recommendations, Tampa said. He said he would be more independent.

"I wish everybody in the city could have heard that statement," he said.

Morris said Wilcox had "every right" to publicly support Brown but added it was "an unfair assumption" that the black vote will be divided.

"We have other options and we have every right to run regardless of our ethnicity," she said.

Brown, who arrived late to the forum, did not hear Wilcox's remarks but said she appreciated them. She said she strongly supports his job performance but that she has sometimes disagreed with him and challenged him to work harder on some issues. The School Board definitely needs a black member, she added.

Meanwhile, Williams, the District 3 candidate, urged the crowd not to dismiss his chances in the county-wide race.

Some urged him not to run, he said, saying it reminded him of an earlier time. "When I was in high school, some people said, 'Son you're so poor you're not going to go to college,' " said Williams, who rose to become an area superintendent with the school system.

[Last modified August 31, 2006, 01:37:40]