Lakewood Ranch teacher to run for school board

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Robert Moates, a government and economics teacher at Lakewood Ranch High School, filed papers today announcing his campaign for the Manatee County School Board District 2 seat.

“I am running for school board because I believe we need new people in charge in order to change the direction of our educational system," Moates said in a prepared statement. "We need accountability in the classroom and accountability downtown if we are to deliver the high-quality education we promise our children and which they deserve."

Moates is a native of Manatee County and a product of the Manatee County Public Schools. He attended Jessie P. Miller and Oneco Elementary Schools, W.D. Sugg Middle School and Manatee High School. He also attended Manatee Community College, where he was a member of the 1991 and 1992 Lancer Baseball teams, before graduating from Florida State University.

Moates spent 10 years working in the Florida Legislature in Tallahassee and the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, D.C., before returning to Manatee County in 2003 to teach.