Candidate Profile: School Board District 5: Karen Carpenter

School Board: District 5

Candidate: Karen Carpenter

Age: 67

Residence: The Uplands

Occupation: Americorps VISTA community service volunteer in Manatee County. She worked for a non profit child abuse prevention agency

Annual income: About $40,000

Education: A bachelor degree in Latin, a master degree in human behavior and a law degree.

Karen Carpenter hopes to bring a legal and advocacy role to the Manatee County school board.

Carpenter hopes to fill the District 5 seat occupied by long-time School Board Member Walter Miller. After serving three terms, Miller decided not to run for re-election. Carpenter has known Miller for 10 years.

” I think they (school board members) have been doing a good job and each one of them Ébrings an important perspective to the work,“ she said. ”My perspective would be more advocacy and legal, we need some more advocacy in Tallahassee and Washington.“

Earning her law degree at age 57, Carpenter said ”education is the most important thing in society. ÉIt’s more important than building prisons.“

Carpenter noted that there is a lot of confusion at the state and federal levels about what constitutes education. She thinks that residents in Manatee County should demand more from their local delegates in Tallahassee.

”More than half of my taxes go toward supporting schools and I have an interest to see it is done right,“ she said. ”We need to demand more from our local legislators, and their job is to represent their constituency and bring more money to the district.“

Carpenter has two daughters. A campaign finance report for her has not been posted on the Manatee County Supervisor of Elections website.