Link to check on wait times to vote

http://www.miamidade.gov/elections//wait-times.asp

Click on that Wednesday early afternoon and see, Great, wait times aren't so bad.

But why is it still taking four hours at the West Kendall Regional Library What's wrong at this spot?

(At first I read the wrong line and thought it was the West Dade Library with the problem. Sorry for the mistake and for pestering Michael Calderin, candidate for state representative in District 119, who was chatting with voters at that polling spot.)

Kudos to voters who endure these long waits!

Jeb is half-right; he recognizes there's a problem. If he had a mirror, he could see it.

Thanks, Larry, for welcoming me to post here at the Miami-Dade-Dems blog. I'm not just your candidate for State Representative in District 119, but I've been building online communities, blogging, and using the net to foster interactivity for the past 10 years. While my posts here won't be directly about our campaign, I look forward to discussing some of the issues that matter most to us Floridians and I suspect my perspective as a Young Democrat born and raised here in Miami-Dade will shine through.

I don't want this to be a place to preach. I want to fully encourage you to interact with the bloggers here. Let us know where you stand. We can learn from each other, and together, implement some of the change we need.

Our kids' education is always among the top concerns of Florida's parents and voters. And though it's taken a backseat lately to more immediately pressing economic issues (this week, the crazy offshore drilling plans), it's an issue that deserves attention.

At this weekend's national education conference in Orlando, former Governor Jeb Bush used the following metaphor to describe our schools:

"The world is much more interconnected, much more technologically advanced, and it is much more interdependent. And yet our education system is an 8-track system living in an iPod world."

I couldn't have said it better myself. But that's as far as Jeb and I agree.

Bush's education gamble hasn't paid off for Florida's students.

Our dropout rates were worse when he left than when he came into office. They're the worst in the country — and that's using some funny math that includes students who don't really graduate.

Our students are being exposed to less learning as they're being taught how to pass the FCAT. Rep. Dan Gelber probably said it best: "Most parents want more than minimal competence for their children." I'd add that most companies want more than minimal competence for their employees as well.

Our per-student spending is shameful. Bush's counterparts at the conference spend far more and their students see the benefits. New York spends more than twice what we do. And yet, the legislature keeps cutting funding, even after promising to "hold education harmless."

I like metaphors. I think they can help make points more clear. So let me stretch this one out a bit.

Our public school system is not the outdated 8-track. No, what's obsolete is the stereotypical politician who thinks he knows better than experts.

Our public school system is the music we all want to hear. The artists performing that music — our teachers — need to be given the freedom to teach as their students need them to.

If we want to be a well-rounded society, we need to listen to different types of music. A wide variety of different subjects have to be important in school.

And if we want that music to sound the best it can, we need to be willing to make the investment in our children's future. For our kids to be competitive, we have to recruit and keep the best talent, we have to upgrade the technology used, and we have to remix our curriculum.

We need a strong system of public education. Let's be honest about the real problem. The real problem is that we've had people in leadership roles who don't want to see it work. We need to rise above ideology and embrace the solution that works. Public schools work, but we have to give them the resources and freedom to prosper.

Look out for constitutional amendments headed to the ballot this year that, if passed, will further damage public schools and make it more difficult for our children to get the education they need. I'm sure we'll have a chance to discuss them soon.

Edit: Wouldn't you know... just hours after I originally posted this, Ray Seaman adds some information on Progress Florida's initiative to fight the amendments on FLA Politics.

Very proud candidate

Michael Calderin won a nice award at the Florida Democratic Party convention in Orlando -- "netroots candidate of the year" in voting run by the party's Netroots Coalition. He is running for the Florida state House of Representatives in District 119, and may the netroots award be the sign of his ultimate victory in the 2008 general election: Landslide coming, All aboard!

I clicked on the incumbent to get a picture of the district, which is in the western suburbs. It looks kinda like a dinosaur with a little propeller at its bottom. Guess I didn't get enough rest while attending the convention. It may have been that mojito at the Hispanic caucus bash (broken up by the police ...).

Calderin kickoff fills the room

In case you weren't there Thursday evening, here's a video message from Michael Calderin, running for the state House of Representatives in District 119.

And here's a link to the text of his talk, posted on the Florida Progressive Coalition blog. Let's talk about the future. Go, Michael!

Calderin kickoff Thursday 7:30 pm

In case your calendar is broken, don't forget that the future of State House District 119 will be available for autographs (that's your autograph on a check to him) at Hooligan's, 9555 South Dixie Highway, at 7:30 Thursday evening.

Michael Calderin is having his campaign kickoff for the 2008 election. Don't be late. It will be great. Put Michael in the driver's seat.

UPDATE: Here's a link to a campaign video with Michael's message up on YouTube.

Florida Progressive Radio -- again

Trying to help introduce new stuff, here's another promo for Florida Progressive Radio -- available on the Internet, and the link here is to the already-archived program on Sunday July 29, during which your faithful blogger was the first caller.

Listeners will hear that your blogger approves of being nimble in political campaigning -- that is, reacting quickly, being proactive, letting no moss grow. The reference is to the blogging done by Michael Calderin and Christian Chiari, both candidates for the Florida House of Representatives, reacting to news that the Republicans in Miami-Dade County were holding lavish fund-raising spectacles this weekend. This link takes you to my post earlier this weekend on this topic.

Since then there has been further evidence of nimble thinking: Dave Patlak, pictured in that earlier post, organized a protest at the site of the Republican gross excess in South Beach. He reports that Marco Rubio, speaker of the state House of Representatives, descended from his tour bus and opined that Big Dave had a perfect right to mount a protest. Thank you, Your Majesty!