Sara Hand

It is not often that you see democrats and republicans agreeing on the issues. However, across the board, Chambers of commerce and other business minded organizations have gotten behind this upcoming Sarasota County School referendum the issue.

They are unified to continue the work that has been started to increase the quality of education in Sarasota County.  They are committed to economic development and understand that the type of enterprise we attract and grow is connected to our commitment to education.

However this election looks like a case study for the effectiveness of social media. There is a contingent from the Republican Party that dissents on this upcoming school referendum and they are good. They are wordsmiths prolifically contributing to the blogosphere. Try and find great content from other than the school board and you have to dig for it, though it is worth the effort.

This means more than ever, that supporters need to not only vote, but to speak up.  We can’t take for granted that enough people will do the right thing.

AND voting is easy. You don’t have to count on your day going great on the 16th. You have two weeks to get out there and vote and to encourage others to join you in renewing Sarasota County’s commitment to education and economic development.  

Early voting will take place from March 1-14, 2010, at the Supervisor of Elections offices in Sarasota, Venice and North Port. The office will be open for early voting from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. on weekdays, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturdays and 1-5 p.m. on Sundays. 

                                                                         Click here for street map

In 2002 Sarasota County made a commitment to upgrading our education system.

Did we need it? Desperately! At that time we had almost 2000 people a day moving into our state and ranked close to the bottom of the 50 in quality of education. We needed to make some changes, and we have.  Sarasota County’s educational system has moved forward significantly. Our schools come back with well above average grades across the county, and have even received some recognition on a national level…although our state, as a whole still has a long way to go.

There has never been a time as important as now, to continue to move forward with our commitment to increasing the quality of education for our students. Sound, sustainable economic development requires several things, including a commitment to investing in education. Our previous economic model was built primarily on tourism, construction and agriculture. The amount of education and the skill sets necessary to support that model are not the same as those necessary to support the future economic growth of Sarasota County.

In his book Rise of the Creative Class, Richard Florida states that people used to move to where companies were, and now companies are moving to where people want to live. If we are to capitalize on the natural resources that come with living in this beautiful area, to tap into the intellectual capital available, and to build an economic model that embraces innovative enterprises; investing in an emerging workforce that has the capacity to participate actively in this endeavor is crucial.

The Referendum on March 16^th isn’t about raising taxes. It isn’t even about having all the answers or even getting it all right. It is simply about continuing forward with the commitment that we have already made and voting YES to renew what we have already started.