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Troubled Middleton High should look inward, not backward

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By JOE O'NEILL

Tribune correspondent

Published: July 15, 2009

Understandably, a lot of Middleton High alumni are upset with what they've been seeing in the reincarnation of their old school, the one with the proud heritage. It came more clearly into focus recently when Middleton, which dates to 1934, held its 75th anniversary.

Today's Middleton, a $50 million East Tampa facility that opened in 2002, is an academic imposter, unworthy of the Middleton mantle. For the past six years it has received a D grade from the state, which means it's still on the "intervention" list. Which means from its '02 restart-up it has been embarrassingly underperforming. Now it's subject to any number of mandates, including a restructuring of its staff by the school board.

Two points:

First, Middleton should not have held a 75th anniversary gathering - but rather the 38th anniversary of its first 37 years. As in hearkening back to when Middleton stood for achievement and neighborhood pride. When it was converting America's segregation crucible into a community challenge. That Middleton closed under a federal desegregation order in 1971.

So, why not make modern Middleton earn its way back into the fold, one forged against the odds by proud predecessors? Nostalgia only applies to those who have lived it.

Second, we know what works. Call it old-school thinking, but you could have found it in a Catholic school with one nun teaching all subjects to classes twice what Florida's class-size amendment would allow. Or in a black school in a black community during the infamy that was Jim Crow. It's not merely a matter of "accountability systems" or pressure tactics directed at the school board or its superintendent.

The key is teacher-student-parent alliances, where teachers and parents reinforce each other. Where students don't equate good grades with "acting white" and don't need a drum line for motivation. We know that a $50 million campus can be rich in resources and poor in parental participation. And we know an iconic name is irrelevant to those who think academic accomplishment is uncool.

Good schools start in good homes. Not necessarily affluent homes, but good homes. No, life isn't fair, but nobody's precluded from decent values. We already know - absent a culture of parental support and student pride and work ethic - what millions of dollars can yield. In Middleton's muddled case: failure and "intervention."

Serpentine logic

Python: Monty yes; house pet, no. Why is this still an issue? Some things inherently make no sense.

We already know that gigantic snakes such as pythons and boas are incompatible with this state - or anywhere outside of their unique habitats, such as the jungles of Myanmar. Their presence is invasive in the Everglades; their ecological threat serious and documented. And with the application of common sense, we know that creatures that grow well beyond 20 feet and 200 pounds can be lethal to domestic pets and some humans - notably, children. Recently a toddler from Sumter County was suffocated by one.

And yet they are legal. The permit costs $100. Failure to have one is only a second-degree misdemeanor. The law also requires such snakes be secured - under lock and key. Obviously they always aren't. The child killed in Sumter was killed by an albino Burmese python. She was also victimized by its owner, who didn't have a license, a secured environment or, seemingly, whatever sense he was ostensibly born with.

Most of the people who own jumbo snakes are not herpetologists. Who knows what the attraction is for all the non-herpetologists, although the thought is unsettling. I wouldn't want them living next door. Officials estimate about 450 licensees are allowed to possess such "reptiles of concern." They have no idea how many unlicensed "reptiles of concern" owners there are.

Here's hoping U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson's bill to include pythons on the list of injurious, non-native species banned from U.S. importation now will get traction. Unfortunately, it has taken a needless tragedy borne of unconscionable stupidity and negligence to formally add public safety to the environmental havoc rationale.

And doesn't it speak volumes when, courtesy of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, we actually have - and obviously need - an exotic-pet amnesty day? Bring 'em in. No charge. No questions asked. Including the most basic query: "Why did you want one of these in the first place?"

Rays' frayed patience

The Rays' ownership and front office continue to be bewildered by attendance, notably that three-game "World Series Rematch" with the Philadelphia Phillies that averaged less than 20,000. Here's a possible rationale.

Start with the daily double: St. Petersburg's Trop, among the worst facilities in Major League Baseball, is also poorly located in an asymmetrical market with no mass transit. Then add the region's lack of corporate headquarters, which is the typical lifeblood of season tickets, as well as sponsorship deals. Then throw in history. Baseball is part of the social fabric of traditional markets such as Philadelphia. The game is generational and attendance is not driven solely by on-field success.

In contrast, Tampa Bay's history is spring training, which means inexpensive, tourist-skewed, relatively intimate gatherings. It's a diversion.

And then it ends in time for summer, when big league clubs head North, and locals turn to a lifestyle that many relocated here to enjoy. And baseball isn't a big part of that. We're talking golf, tennis, fishing, boating, swimming and retreating to the Carolinas. In short, there are better things to do in the summer around here than go to a baseball game.

Joe O'Neill is a Tampa writer who can be contacted at www.opinionstogoonline .com or moesez@aol.com.

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