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EDUCATION

Board races and the money factor

Lopsided battles for campaign funds, and debates over loyalty, independence

Denise Amos
denise.amos@jacksonville.com
Charlotte Joyce (right) talks with resident Karimah Young as Joyce campaigns for the Duval County School Board in District 6 in the Rose Hill neighborhood in Jacksonville. She is in a runoff election with Dave Chauncey, who so far has raised eight times more money than she has. [Will Dickey/Florida Times-Union]

So far Duval County’s three School Board races look like a lopsided battle for money.

On one side, three candidates endorsed by a host of business and political groups have amassed many times more money than their opponents. They say their fundraising success reflects broad support for their vision for Duval public schools.

On the other side are three financial underdogs who say voters are skeptical of so much money, suspecting there are strings attached.

League of Women Voters’ blogger and leader, Sue Legg, agrees with them. She sees flush School Board campaigns across the state as signs of a long-term push to sway school boards and win more public dollars for private and charter schools.

“It’s because of the motivation behind these people contributing the money,” she said. “If they are motivated to privatize schools, you, the public, should know about it.”

Three of the six remaining Duval board candidates have raised and spent tens of thousands of dollars so far.

Lawyer Dave Chauncey, running for District 6 on the Westside, raised the most at $75,2147, about eight times the take of his challenger, Charlotte Joyce, a Duval middle school teacher who raised $9,455 but won more primary votes than Chauncey.

Nick Howland, running for District 2’s Beaches communities, raised $56,559, also about eight times more than his opponent, therapist Elizabeth Andersen.

Darryl Willie, executive director of Teach for America in Jacksonville, reeled in $49,193, about twice what Cynthia Smith raised. Willie and Smith, a former Duval teacher who runs a preschool, hope to represent District 4, Jacksonville’s northwest side.

“Over the past couple of election cycles, the money raised keeps going up and up,” Andersen said. “My opponent has gotten a lot from special interests and groups who hope to profit and who don’t have the best interests of public education in mind.”

Smith agreed that voters are questioning candidates’ backing and their loyalties.

“This is a school board race,” she said. “This is not to undervalue the importance of it, but the amount of money being thrown to candidates should be put back in classrooms for resources and programs to dismantle violence in our community.”

Each of the three well-funded candidates said that if they win in November they will be independent votes on Duval’s seven-member School Board. Financial supporters aren’t asking for a quid pro quo, they said.

"There’s always questions about things like that,” Chauncey said, ”but at end of day, the people I am listening to are the students and parents. That’s the truth of it.”

Howland said a lot of of business people donated to him because he has turned around underperforming companies and they want that kind of financial acumen on the board.

“They do appreciate that I’m a business-focused candidate,” he said. “But they’re also interested in what else I bring. I’ve got skin in the game. I have two boys in school, so every decision I make I’ve got to live with.”

Willie said his donors know and trust he’ll represent his community. “A check or a donation is not going to drive how I make decisions,” he said. “Most folks said they believe in me as a person, they believe in my being able to make sound decisions about what my constituents want.”

These races are important because, with three of Duval’s seven board seats open, November’s winners likely will influence such questions as which schools to close or consolidate, whether to seek more local taxes for schools, and what to do about expanding charter schools and tax-funded tuition programs for private schools, which take students and money from the district.

Business groups naturally give to school board races because they’re the ones hiring graduates, said Daniel Davis, president of the JAX Chamber, which endorsed the three well financed candidates.

“We were looking at all the successes Duval County Public Schools have had over the last several years that, in my opinion, are the result of reforms that have been put into place. We want to make sure that Duval continues on that track,” Davis said.

Davis didn’t specify which reforms the chamber backs, though he said growing graduation rates and improving third-grade reading trends are critical.

One education reform supported by Jacksonville philanthropists is Teach for America, which recruits and trains non-education majors to teach in public schools after college.

Willie, who heads that effort in Jacksonville, says Teach for America teachers are often nominated Teacher of the Year and often become education leaders.

Nevertheless, Duval’s School Board in recent years cut most of its spending on TFA because of budget constraints and concerns about high teacher turnover. The cuts were unpopular with some Jacksonville philanthropists.

Other reforms, such as charter schools and private school vouchers, also pit Duval’s board members against some big donors and groups, including those supporting KIPP charter schools in Jacksonville. Chauncey’s wife is a KIPP recruiter in Jacksonville, and some of the top candidates' donors are KIPP backers.

Outsiders and insiders are contributing to local Duval County campaign war chests.

Among Chauncey’s campaign supporters are 54 $1,000 contributors, including dozens of business owners, executives, and investors. Among them is businessman and former state School Board member Gary Chartrand and at least three organizations linked to him that donated at least $4,000, records show.

Also, 16 fellow lawyers and three law firms supported him, as did 11 political action committees.

He and Howland each received at least $1,000 from Build Something that Lasts, a PAC that over three years has raised nearly $1.8 million mostly for politically conservative candidates, including Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry. It is chaired by a Sarasota County School Board member and former Republican Party chairman.

Howland also attracted $1,000 contributions from 37 business people, PACs or companies, including from Gate Petroleum, two dog track businesses, philanthropists and investors. Charter school backers of KIPP schools are on that list.

In the District 4 race, Willie attracted 27 $1,000 contributors. His supporters include 61 business owners, executives, investors, and consultants. At least 73 donors live outside Florida but 20 are educators, school administrators, advocates or students.

Willie said many of his donors know him from his times teaching in California and the Mississippi Delta region before coming to Jacksonville. He also has family and friends out of state.

“I’m a military kid: I’m from all over,” he said.

His opponent, Smith, an early learning center owner, raised most of her $20,463 from local businesses and at least 79 current or former educators and administrators.

But all of this money does not guarantee a win, said Joyce, the middle school teacher who got more votes than Chauncey despite his greater resources. She believes that knocking on doors, putting down lawn signs, and showing people her passion for education will make the difference in her race.

“I feel like David, with my slingshot and my stone, and I’m up against Goliath,” she said. “When I got into the race, I was told by various people that you want to try to raise between $20,000 or $30,000. We didn’t reach that but we still worked really hard.”

Andersen voiced a similar sentiment. She said that with today's security concerns in schools, voters will value her mental health in schools expertise, despite Howland's campaign dollars.

"He’ll undoubtedly out-spend me, but he won’t out-work me,” she said.

Denise Smith Amos: (904) 359-4083