My Hometown

“We may live our lives a little slower
But that don’t mean I wouldn’t be proud to show ya”

– “Where I come from”  recorded by Montgomery Gentry

I’ve lived in Pensacola (with the exception of a couple of years when my father was stationed in Norfolk) my whole life. My hometown has changed a lot over the past 40+ years, some good and some bad. What hasn’t changed is the small-mindedness of people who are given the charge of running our city and county.

Not being an actual resident of the city proper I can’t comment on a lot of what the city council does (unless it’s the council and city attorney trying to inhibit free speech), but lately the city council has made our county commissioners look pretty good. Which is saying quite a bit.

Our sheriff has done quite well at combating crime and coming across as an arrogant know-it-all.

The most disturbing thing at this time tough has got to be the school system in Escambia County.

One of the charter schools that got the blessing of our superintendent has underperformed and is in danger of being shut-down by the school board. It’s probably unnecessary to mention that it’s an inner-city school. What has to be mentioned is that the board expected the school to improve reading scores from an “F” to an “A” in nine months while other schools had the benefit of taking 5 years to do the same. Other facts include the school district failing to hand over Title I money to the school.

Next up are the three inner-city schools that were closed, even though one had pulled its scores up to a “C” level. This happened so that the district could build a school for $17 million to house them in one location and to spend $21 million on a school in a primarily white part of town with an enrollment lower than the three schools that were closed.

The Escambia County School District is ranked 44^th out of 67 in Florida. Instead of taking ownership of the issue and doing something to fix the problem, some on the board find it easier to lay the blame elsewhere. The member is question feels that more explanation is needed in footnotes so that the information doesn’t “lead to incorrect and negative public perceptions.”  This member also places the blame on the county’s demographics, crime and poverty.

Unfortunately, while I think this member is intelligent, his excuses are less than intelligent and just help to exacerbate the problem in the education system which then lends itself to creating other issues.

Education (a good education) leads to a more intelligent work force, which leads to businesses actually wanting to come to Pensacola, which leads to better paying jobs, which leads to less of an exodus by the younger members of the community looking for a better place to live (and raise a family).

And one last thing about the schools; under our current superintendent, the unrestricted reserves of the district are at a whopping $56.5 million. With nearly everyone in a budget crunch, you might ask how this happened. Simple, don’t spend the money that is budgeted for the classrooms in the classrooms. There is a possibility that if the money designated for the classrooms made it there, Pensacola might not be ranked 44^th.

On another note, the Pensacola Blue Wahoos open up their inaugural season of baseball here on April 5^th. The Blue Wahoos are AA affiliates of the Cincinnati Reds. Pensacola has tried basketball (Tornadoes), Arena football (Barracudas), hockey (Ice Pilots, and now the Ice Flyers), and independent baseball (Pelicans). The owner of the Pelicans made the purchase of the Mudcats and brought them further south to the bay. Mr. Studer has dropped some serious dollars in this venture and I hope this is a successful one for both he and Pensacola.