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Looking For Inspiration, Local Schools Go Afar

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 29, 2008

Earlier this month, Hillsborough County school officials, looking to inspire teachers and administrators from the county's most impoverished schools, invited 10-year-old Dalton Sherman of Dallas - a YouTube phenom for a speech he made to teachers there - to make an appearance here.

Local school officials might have tried to do what those in Dallas did - tap a homegrown talent and coach him to deliver the message, "Do You Believe in Me?"

Instead, school officials paid Sherman $4,000 to deliver his speech twice.

That's $4,000 for one day's work - for a 10-year-old.

That's more than what an entry-level teacher makes in a month.

That's more than what a tutor makes in two months.

Yet no red flags were raised in a district that claims poverty in meeting classroom needs for teachers and children, but spends with abandon on outside contracts.

Surely, with nearly 190,000 students in the district, one could have been found to inspire Hillsborough's teachers.

The speaking fee was paid with Title 1 funds, federal tax dollars earmarked for schools where more than half the children live in poverty - the same children whose lagging educational attainment is often blamed on a lack of government funding.

It's not the first time the district used Title I funds to hire motivational speakers, but it is the most questionable. In 2007, records show, the district paid Tulane University professor Calvin Mackie $5,500 to motivate boys at five struggling schools - an expenditure that at least touched students directly. Sherman, by contrast, spoke only to administrators and teachers.

In this economy, taxpayers want every dollar to go to children, not high-priced speakers - even adorable ones.

Some might look at Sherman and say he is no different than some of the impoverished students in Hillsborough who need inspired teachers. But that's not the case.

This is a child who comes from a high-achieving family. His mother is a Dallas school teacher; his father works for Verizon; and an older sister is already an accountant. He attends a Title I school, but 98 percent of Dallas schools have Title I status.

Last year, Dalton won an oratory contest after having performed at churches and public events throughout Dallas. He's even opened an event for famed poet Maya Angelou.

When Dallas school officials got the idea to have Sherman address the teachers' convention, they wrote the speech and gave him a coach to help him practice over the summer.

His experience is more akin to Hannah Montana than the kids who make teaching a challenge - the ones with no resources, no family support and certainly no coaching.

The money spent bringing Sherman to Tampa might have made a world of difference for one of the many Hillsborough children who have the odds stacked against them - and who still wonder if anyone believes in them.

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