Experience, Maturity, Integrity

TAPP - Transparency/Accountability/

Participation/Patriotism

Aim High Manatee!

Colonel (USAF*/ret.) Richard Tatem: patriot/leader/aviator/scholar/author/

radio show host/podcaster/community volunteer

*No Dept. of Defense or USAF endorsement implied

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Endorses Richard Tatem!

Endorsed by Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells: “I have observed that Richard Tatem, a retired Air Force Colonel, has a high level of maturity, experience, integrity, and excellence. These qualities are exactly what is needed for a school board member, and I heartily endorse his candidacy."

For:

Parental Rights

Parental Involvement – instructional materials selection, senior leader selection, etc.

Protecting girls’ sports

Against:

Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) – “DEI is CRT in action!” (Quote from BLEXIT Florida –click this link - “BLEXIT Guide Against Critical Race Theory”)

Age-inappropriate instructional material

Masks – never again – ever! Masks destroyed the classroom environment by making it a power struggle between students and staff – I know – I am a high school substitute teacher.

Let’s “tap”/TAPP the Manatee County School System

Transparency – building trust between the school board and the community by maximizing the transparency of school system operations and finances
Accountability – the school board must hold the school system to the highest standards of financial and professional accountability
Participation – the school board must do a better job of providing opportunities for the community to interact with the school board and to feel seen, heard, and appreciated when they speak at school board meetings
Patriotism – an ethos of a healthy amount of patriotism should permeate our school system, from the board to the employees to the curriculum. We should all be striving to be just Americans, looking at each other through a lens of character and performance, not race or gender

Heads, Hands, Hearts!

“We can fill your heads with knowledge, and we can train your hands to work with skill, but unless all this training of head and hand is based upon high, upright character, upon a true heart, it will amount to nothing. You will be no better off than the most ignorant.” Booker T. Washington