Konk Life’s Political Questionnaire:

Konk Life has invited every candidate in the upcoming elections to answer the following questions about themselves and their candidacy.

 

Q&A with Catherine Bosworth

Interview conducted by Mark Howell

Tell us your age, what office you’re running for and any previous offices held.

I’m, 69, running for School Board District 4; previously was president of the Upper Keys League of Women Voters; no previous political office.

 

Explain your platform in and why you are running. I’m running as “A Voice for Teachers and Students.” I was asked to run by teachers who felt they had not received the respect they deserved.

 

 

Detail how you differ from your competing candidates.

I have a lifetime as an educator to help me understand the complexity of the important issues facing our schools.

 

Tell us your personal history — education; professional career; family life and how long you’ve lived in the Keys or the county and your relationship to the Florida Keys and/or Key West.

I graduated from Florida International University with a BA in English and an MS in Mass Communication. I taught high school English and journalism in public schools in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties for more than 25 years. I am now an adjunct instructor at Florida Keys Community College. I have lived in the Keys for the past two years, but I’ve been a frequent visitor since the 1980s when I spent many happy weekends with my children on my Whaler exploring the reefs of Pennekamp. I have three grown children who graduated from South Florida public schools and from Florida universities. I have seven grandchildren, three of whom graduated from a South Florida public high school and are now in college, and four who are currently attending Florida public schools.

 

Touch on your personal passions in addition to the above.

I have loved teaching since I was a child myself. When I was 10, I taught my little brother to read before he started school. I love boating, snorkeling, scuba diving and kayaking in the beautiful waters of the Keys. I like to write, and I’ve written a few children’s novels set in the Keys, one of which I published last year. I write the occasional article for the Keys Style Magazine, which is included in The Citizen and The Free Press.

 

Describe where, in your view, we might be going wrong in the Keys and/or Key West.

I think there is a lot going right in the Keys and in our schools because of the hard work and dedication of our teachers. I think we go wrong when we don’t try to reach a consensus and cooperate.

 

Tell us the political flash points you expect to encounter if elected.

Teacher performance pay and the new contract; vocational education, including professionally valid marine mechanics certification; digital technology, including allowing students to bring their own devices to school.

 

Tell us anything you feel you need to explain or any misapprehension you believe voters may have of you.

I know of none.

 

Give us your view on the partisan divisiveness in politics today and any solution to it you might have.

Divisiveness arises when compromise is seen as an abandonment of principle. The only solution is a change in this attitude.

 

Given that gender equality, income parity, voting rights and sexual preferences continue as big political issues nationwide today, tell us on which side of the aisle you stand.

Equality for all citizens shouldn’t be an issue. The constitution guarantees it.

 

And how about immigration, gun control and capital punishment.

Immigration may become an issue in the Keys if increased amount of children arrive, but I imagine Miami, because of its large Guatemalan population, will see more of a rise. I don’t favor guns in schools, except those carried by police officers. I’m not a proponent of capital punishment.

 

Name your favorite movie

“Dances with Wolves.”

 

Your favorite TV show

Masterpiece Mystery, especially “Foyle’s War.”

 

Your favorite TV talking head

Rachel Maddow.

 

Your favorite newspaper columnist

Carl Hiaasen

 

Your favorite book

“Under Cover of Daylight” by James W. Hall.

 

Your favorite character in American history

 

Your favorite person in Florida Keys and/or Key West history

Ernest Hemmingway.

 

Your favorite quote or proverb

“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”

 

Is there any secret strength you’d like to reveal about yourself at this point?

I love grammar. I can diagram a complex sentence really well.

[livemarket market_name="KONK Life LiveMarket" limit=3 category=“” show_signup=0 show_more=0]