Broward County Schools

In my Parent newsletter they discuss the diverse population of Broward county schools. I am surprised to see that we have just over a quarter of a million students!! We are the nations sixth largest district with over 283 schools!

For 2007-2008 the break down is 111,419 elementary school age children (Pre K through Grade 5), 53,743 in middle schools (Grade 6 - 8) and 71,378 in high school (Grades 9 - 12). Additionally the districts centers have 5243 students while the charter schools educate 17,122 students.

Over 51.42 % of the Districts students are male, while 48.58 % are female. The Broward county schools include students from 164 countries who speak 52 different languages.

Can you imagine spending $328,000 a day for electricity, or about $61 million a year for air conditioning and lighting??? These figures account for about 73 percent of the total electricity usage in the Broward school system. There is an opportunity for savings and Florida Power and Light (FPL) sees it! FPL has rolled out a new pilot program that puts 256 of the school principals in charge of Energy Tools for Schools where an Energy Coordinator will reduce energy consumption by only a small percentage so a considerable amount of money will be available to reinforce other budgetary needs." GO GREEN FPL

These numbers are just mind boggling to me in terms of educating kids! I have had teenagers, I could not imagine being trapped with 3000 of them in a school!!!

Our teachers deserve more than they get in compensation and reward!

National Association of Realtors 2007 Convention

Just returned from a fun learning experience in Las Vegas for the National Association of Realtors 2007 convention, Nov 13 - 17th. It always surprises me that the first question people ask you when you tell them you went to Las Vegas is, "Did you win anything?"

Of course I did, new knowledge!!! I do not gamble with money, only living! Truth is I lived in Las Vegas back in the late 1970's, early 1980's. I saw too many people lose to much of their lives when it came to gambling. Sometimes I wish I had the mental talent for craps or Baccarat, but I don't so it remains only a passing thought. There were 250,000 people when I lived in Las Vegas. As you approached the city from the mountain overpass returning from California, it always looked like someone laid out a pop-up storybook in the middle of the dessert and said here it is! There are over 2 million people there now and it is still growing!!! It is still an Adult Candyland with fabulous food, great entertainment and slot machines in grocery stores?!?!

I have many professional designations and belong to many groups that have conventions. NAR is definitely my favorite because of the strong talent they bring to the event. Fortunately you can buy the programs that you miss on CD, because there is no way you can capture the plethora of information that is available in the short three days. The one thing that surprises me is the lack of networking by the attendees. Many agents don't even make eye contact, so it is a little challenging to be reciprocal in exchanging contact information for referrals.

The consensus of the event overall was that the current marketplace will remain a Buyers market till at least early 2009 and in some states much longer. Florida tends to recover quicker than most places. Must be the great climate and awesome places to live and be entertained!