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As a former Walton County teacher, I've known for several years what the situation is. Funny why it's taken so long for a lot of people to catch on. I agree that what's going on is a positive step but I'd also like to point out that our superintendent was elected for 4 years and she has a...

All the teachers I know would be afraid to attend. The fear factor.

Maybe qualified people are afraid to run.

From experience, I can say that Mrs. Anderson is more concerned with test scores, getting government grants, and making sure that her authority isn't challenged. My friends are teachers and I can tell you morale is low. And from what I hear and read, the board meetings are held for the sole...

I understand that the board meeting on Wednesday night was very interesting. A friend who attended said that Chairman Wallace was particularly irritated at some comments and questions.

Indeed! A very good job. My husband and a teacher friend who attended the meetings when they were held twice a month at 5:00PM report that the meetings usually last no more than an hour. And the board members' salary is almost as much as an entry level teacher.

I would hope that voters are becoming more informed but it seems to me and some others who aren't active on this discussion board that there still is a little circle of insiders who go out of their way to defend outrageous and unethical behavior by some elected officials. Elected officials...

I'll bet members of the BCC didn't attend.

For one thing it would eliminate one party affiliated official since the school board is NPA. It might also challenge the board to be more proactive rather than to simply approve every recommendation from the superintendent. We pay the board members a nice salary for having one meeting a month...

Glad you find it amusing. The point is that in a lot of places the board actually is the boss and superintendent operates at the pleasure of the board. In Walton county the opposite seems to be true. My biggest problem is that the district won't justify some of their actions. I think that...

That's true to some extent but the superintendent's position begs for a highly qualified person. In 47 states and 23 counties in Florida, The argument seems to be that the board is held accountable for the superintendent. If the board hires a bad superintendent the board can do something about...

I'd like to thank those candidates who, so far, have exercised the restraint and placed signs on what appears to be private property. One of my pet peeves has always been litter on the roadsides and all those tacky signs all over the area on public property and right of ways are nothing more...

We found Seagrove Beach by accident more than 20 years ago. We owned condos in Destin for several years and after selling our Destin place more than 20 years ago we were looking for a less congested place and it brought us to Seagrove. On our first visit we knew we wanted a place of our own and...

I'm from Alabama and where I lived, all our county officials run as Democrats but most say they're conservative. On a national level, most people vote Republican. The ethnic makeup of the area has much to do with county party affiliation. While we have had some colorful elected officials, I've...

The Sunshine Law serves only to make lawmakers feel good. It's like that silly word that means nothing to liars, "transparency".

Of course being in a county where Republicans outnumber Democrats 2 to 1, nobody wants an increase in taxes, but the truth is we had a tax decrease with falling property values. Funding for educations suffered as a result and before the meltdown Walton county was actually recruiting the best...

Aren't the individual school districts taxing authorities? In 2006 when I was hired, my property taxes were double what they are now, but property values were higher. Tax revenue pays for for running schools doesn't it? Can the legislature fix the decrease in property tax revenue? With the...

It'll be replaced by something tacky.

I respect what unions have done for their members over the years. But I taught because I love teaching and I wasn't in it for the money. I went to school, earned my bachelors at 21 and then got my masters and have taught my entire adult life. In 2010, I was cast aside like a piece of...

Transparency is an empty political buzz word. The truth is that our elected officials aren't accountable to anyone and key decisions are made behind closed doors. I've tried to get information that should be available but officials have simply chosen to ignore my requests. And with the little...

This is a contentious issue and I see that all 67 counties have stopped the voter purge. While I'm in favor of having to show an ID and I'm against ineligible voters being able to vote, I'm beginning to wonder if eligible voters won't be able to vote. The last time I voted, I didn't think I'd...

My husband went to almost all of the school board meetings for more than a year. I also have a teacher friend who used to go to all the meetings. From what I hear, the agenda is set and the board simply approves everything. 9:00AM doesn't sound like a very good time for people who work to go...

I'm not a lawyer so I'm not familiar with all the legal stuff, but I've read some laws including most of the Sunshine Law and I can say that Walton County officials certainly take liberties regarding the release of information. My husband and I have written to the school district, our...

Is that kind of like pleading the fifth?

Yes, I paid dues. After I was non renewed after 4 years I asked my union rep if they could do anything for me and I was told that the union really didn't represent non tenure teachers and I would have gotten tenure if I had been rehired. It's strange that the district hired 66 new teachers...

I taught school for more than 20 years. I taught 4 years in Walton county and I don't recall being given a choice. I taught in Alabama for most of my teaching career but we didn't consider AEA to be a union and we weren't pressured to join.

I taught for more than 20 years in schools where most of the teachers had graduate degrees. In Florida about 25% of our teachers have masters degrees or higher. In Walton county the number is less than the state average.

One would think that elected officials in a small county like ours could find the time to respond to e-mails and letters from the people who elected them. The only local officials I have received responses from is Rep. Brad Drake who responded to all my e-mails and my school board member...

Thank goodness gas prices are coming down. But why is gas 25 cents less in Bay County?

$132,000 salary??!!!!!!!!!And an assistant county administrator? Where's the tax payers association and Tea Party on this?

With Senator Gaetz's education bill passing tenure is no more. Had my annual contract been renewed I would have had tenure but now only teachers who had it before the education bill passed will have it. No new hires will never have it. My problem was that when I was notified that I was being...

Who gives them this advice? I noticed that a school board member announced that he is running. Maybe the tooth fairy gives elected officials advice.

I taught school for more than 30 years. I taught 4 years in Walton county and was laid off in 2010. I had good evaluations and my students' performance was excellent. There were no cuts in the number of teachers only teachers like me with masters degrees and years of experience. In fact the...

The DOE has said that local school districts are autonomous and can act as they please. They are not required to show any accountabiltiy and in Walton county they don't have to justify any decision that they make. The superintendent makes all decisions and the board always approves them. The...

As far as the school board goes, I don't think it makes any difference who's on the board. From what I'm told, they only vote on issues because it's required by law and as far as personnel recommendations go they don't even know who the applicants are, with the exception of relatives. I do...

The bottom line is that we don't need new digs for the TDC. IMO we don't need a TDC. What happened to the grand Republican idea of smaller government? The TDC is a vehicle for the county to waste money.

If you want to call it a "swap" that's fine. I voted for that as well. My point is that the idea of putting a single issue on a ballot by itself is a sneaky way to get as few people as possible to vote. That way the promoters of an issue are more likely to sell the issue to the people who do...

I'm not voting to re-elect anybody. I'm a registered Republican but I'll vote for any Democrats who are running in the general election.

Since we have so many vacant dwellings in Walton county, perhaps the TDC needs to concentrate on bringing in permanent residents.

I notice that quite a few candidates have qualified to run for county offices and very few of them have published anything about themselves. I'm not a native of Walton County so I don't know many of these people. I've even looked on Facebook and a couple of candidates that have profiles hide...

The slick way to get a tax increase is to have it on a referendum all by itself like the school tax last year. Both issues would have been voted down if they had not been a stand alone issue. Just another trick used by creative politicos. I find it disgusting when efforts are made to...

Since the TDC has so much money burning a hole in their pockets, may they could buy a yacht and call it a floating welcome center. And in the off season the politicians could use it to entertain their friends.

I think the TDC should be dissolved. I talk to people all the time who come here on vacation and most of them don't know what county they are in and couldn't care less. 'The Beaches of South Walton' is an ego trip for the political insiders. The area sells itself. The TDC had nothing to do...

The WCTA obviously didn't get their way. I voted for the tax. I hate toll roads and I avoid the Mid Bay Bridge. Some of the people who work in the south end of the county live north of the bay and a toll would really be a pain in the butt for them.

We don't need a TDC to waste money. The county commission can find more creative ways to do that.

I think it's time to do away with the TDC. People come here for the beach and besides that vacationers don't know or care what county they are in. The TDC is a vehicle that serves only to waste money.

I suppose it says something about an official when they run unopposed. Sometimes it's an indication of a person's character which means more to me than party affiliation.

It's too bad we don't have people who would serve on the county commission and school board for no salary. That would be an indication of who really is interested in public service and doing the right thing. A friend recently attended the once a month school board meeting recently and she told...