the simple fact that an election is just too limiting. When Padgett was appointed by the Governor he had one year in and then chose to run in 2004. His only challengers were Pedro Fraga, a hair dresser, and I think someone else but I am can't recall, in the Republican primary who Padgett easily defeated and then of course Randy Acevedo on the Democrat side. Only one of the candidates had ever had the experience and education that would be minimally required for an appointed position and that was Pedro Fraga who didn't even make the primary. Then of course in 2008, Randy had only one challenger, Fred Colvard who had excellent credentials but was for the most part ignored by those in the education community. The mantra was that Randy was the greatest, most visionary super... Fred did the best he could to bring out the truth but in the end his message was lost. If you look at the candidate expense reports which are available online, you can see that a general election can cost anywhere from 40k to 100k. This means a candidate needs an extensive network of financial support or they must be independently wealthy. This alone is a great deterrent for people who may have the necessary educational/administrative background because in general those kind of book smart people are usually not the most popular and you cannot run a successful election without being popular. Another fact is that when Randy got elected, he created additional administrative and non-teaching positions as political favors. This way he could ensure loyalty from the top because many of them knew that someone like Fred would get rid of those positions. During the campaign, whenever I would try to talk to people about Fred Colvard, many school people just didn't want to hear it, they only cared about Randy because "they liked him" They knew he didn't have the qualifications but many would say things like "I can talk to Randy, I don't know Fred." That is human nature. I think we have a more knowledgable board than you may care to admit. Pribramsky and Dick are "on it" and I have watched many board meetings when they have proven their knowledge of current rules and regulations supersedes those in Randy's administration. Like you, I used to think the elected position was better, but after I saw how easily it is for the general public to be convinced of lies through Randy's propaganda, I think we need to move forward and ask for qualified people to apply so we can make a selection that will most benefit the students. The elected system just doesn't bring out the best and even if it did there is guarantee that the people will choose the best over a friend or someone they know.

John Padget was a recent superintendent that was not a former principal or educator. He was appointed by Jeb Bush.

why dont we elect beat patrol, generals, teachers, janitors, principals, and cabinet posts for the president? Let us makme all public jobs elected? That will really make things run smooth.

Judges should not be allowed to have been attornys (or members of the Key West Yacht Club)

Some common sense is long overdue