07-05-2008, 01:22 PM
Palm Beach County School Board District 1 race pits incumbent against two challengers
Dwindling budget, raises for teachers are key issues
By Marc Freeman | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
July 5, 2008
The race for Palm Beach County School Board District 1 pits incumbent Monroe Benaim against two challengers making their first attempts at elected office.
A Jupiter eye surgeon elected in 2002, Benaim hopes voters see the value of his experience and goals for improving local education in a tough economy.
Newcomers Kelly Sturmthal, an attorney from Jupiter Farms, and Jonathan Williams, a computer specialist from Loxahatchee, are offering different leadership skills and fresh plans for improving services for students.
The election for the nonpartisan seat will be held Aug. 26. Voting is limited to those registered in sprawling District 1, which covers portions of the north and west county, including Jupiter, Palm Beach Gardens and Pahokee.
The winner gets a four-year term on a seven-member board setting finances and policies for a school system with about 168,000 students. Board members receive a $40,887 annual salary.
Two other seats are being contested this year: Incumbents Carrie Parker Hill and Mark Hansen are seeking re-election in Districts 4 and 5, respectively. Paulette Bur**** was unopposed for another term representing District 2, and terms for three other seats are up in 2010.
The board is spending the summer struggling with a diminishing budget for classrooms and programs. School District administrators say they don't have any dollars for teacher raises. That could spell trouble for the board incumbents on Election Day if teachers retaliate.
District officials said there's $62.9 million less in operating money for the 2008-09 school year, mainly because of a state funding decrease; the operating budget was about $1.5 billion last year.
Benaim, 59, said of the three candidates he's "best equipped to know where policies can be made as belts tighten. We need to do at least the job we've been doing, with less money."
The father of a Jupiter High graduate and another child in the 10th grade, Benaim said he has four priorities if re-elected: academic achievement; better graduation rates; school safety; and financial management.
Concerning teacher salaries, Benaim said, "I intend on voting in favor of every nickel we can give the teachers."
When Benaim won his last race in 2004, he did so without an endorsement from the Classroom Teachers Association. The union was upset with Benaim's vote that year against automatic raises.
The Palm Beach County Police Benevolent Association — protesting 2 percent raises for school district police officers this year — now is urging county voters to dump Benaim, Hill and Hansen. In District 1, the police and teachers unions endorsed Sturmthal, whose mother teaches at Bak Middle School of the Arts in West Palm Beach.
Sturmthal, 42, is a mother of two Jupiter Farms Elementary students. After two years as president of the school's PTO, Sturmthal wants to expand her education activism and "make next year better than this year" in the school district.
As a board member, she promises to work on: improving fiscal responsibility; making sure children attend their neighborhood schools; improving the board's communications with the public, and "building and keeping the morale high for all involved in our school system."
Williams, 42, is a father of five children who have either graduated or are still attending public schools in Royal Palm Beach and The Acreage. He said he's running for the board because he's frustrated with "the financial and personnel scandals that come out week by week from the district."
Williams pledges to help improve teacher retention, campus security and the budget.
"The existing board continually misses opportunities to minimize waste and spend tax dollars more wisely," he said.
Marc Freeman can be reached at mjfreeman@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6642.
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Dwindling budget, raises for teachers are key issues
By Marc Freeman | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
July 5, 2008
The race for Palm Beach County School Board District 1 pits incumbent Monroe Benaim against two challengers making their first attempts at elected office.
A Jupiter eye surgeon elected in 2002, Benaim hopes voters see the value of his experience and goals for improving local education in a tough economy.
Newcomers Kelly Sturmthal, an attorney from Jupiter Farms, and Jonathan Williams, a computer specialist from Loxahatchee, are offering different leadership skills and fresh plans for improving services for students.
The election for the nonpartisan seat will be held Aug. 26. Voting is limited to those registered in sprawling District 1, which covers portions of the north and west county, including Jupiter, Palm Beach Gardens and Pahokee.
The winner gets a four-year term on a seven-member board setting finances and policies for a school system with about 168,000 students. Board members receive a $40,887 annual salary.
Two other seats are being contested this year: Incumbents Carrie Parker Hill and Mark Hansen are seeking re-election in Districts 4 and 5, respectively. Paulette Bur**** was unopposed for another term representing District 2, and terms for three other seats are up in 2010.
The board is spending the summer struggling with a diminishing budget for classrooms and programs. School District administrators say they don't have any dollars for teacher raises. That could spell trouble for the board incumbents on Election Day if teachers retaliate.
District officials said there's $62.9 million less in operating money for the 2008-09 school year, mainly because of a state funding decrease; the operating budget was about $1.5 billion last year.
Benaim, 59, said of the three candidates he's "best equipped to know where policies can be made as belts tighten. We need to do at least the job we've been doing, with less money."
The father of a Jupiter High graduate and another child in the 10th grade, Benaim said he has four priorities if re-elected: academic achievement; better graduation rates; school safety; and financial management.
Concerning teacher salaries, Benaim said, "I intend on voting in favor of every nickel we can give the teachers."
When Benaim won his last race in 2004, he did so without an endorsement from the Classroom Teachers Association. The union was upset with Benaim's vote that year against automatic raises.
The Palm Beach County Police Benevolent Association — protesting 2 percent raises for school district police officers this year — now is urging county voters to dump Benaim, Hill and Hansen. In District 1, the police and teachers unions endorsed Sturmthal, whose mother teaches at Bak Middle School of the Arts in West Palm Beach.
Sturmthal, 42, is a mother of two Jupiter Farms Elementary students. After two years as president of the school's PTO, Sturmthal wants to expand her education activism and "make next year better than this year" in the school district.
As a board member, she promises to work on: improving fiscal responsibility; making sure children attend their neighborhood schools; improving the board's communications with the public, and "building and keeping the morale high for all involved in our school system."
Williams, 42, is a father of five children who have either graduated or are still attending public schools in Royal Palm Beach and The Acreage. He said he's running for the board because he's frustrated with "the financial and personnel scandals that come out week by week from the district."
Williams pledges to help improve teacher retention, campus security and the budget.
"The existing board continually misses opportunities to minimize waste and spend tax dollars more wisely," he said.
Marc Freeman can be reached at mjfreeman@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6642.
More articles