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Children's Campaign is pleased to anounce ...Children’s Campaign is pleased to announce that Betty Castor and Bill Sublette, both with long histories of distinguished public service, will co-chair the Five Promises to Parents Campaign. Five Promises is sponsored by the Children’s Campaign and provides a unifying vision for children’s issues, spanning maternal and children’s health, child welfare and child protection, early learning and quality Pre-K, after school services, and juvenile justice reform. Five Promises links community leaders, citizens, providers, experts and advocates across the state. Bill Sublette
Locally, Bill has served as Chairman of the Orange County Jail Oversight Commission, Chairman of the Mayor’s Education Action Council, Co-Chair of the Orange County Juvenile Justice Task Force, and Chairman of the Blue Ribbon Panel on Education, a group of 25 community leaders appointed by the Orange County School Board, City of Orlando, and Orange County government charged with recommending changes to improve the performance of Orange County’s public schools. He currently serves as statewide chairman for No Casinos, Inc., an organization committed to fighting the introduction of casino gambling in Florida. He is also the President, or an officer, of various community organizations, including public broadcaster WMFE, the Orange County Bar Association, the local Boy Scouts of America council, and the Howard Phillips Center for Children and Families. Bill is a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Orlando. He and his wife Suzie have three children. Betty Castor
Before joining the National Board, Castor served for six years as president of the University of South Florida, one of the largest metropolitan universities in the nation with four campuses and a medical school located in the Tampa Bay area. The university grew in enrollment and graduate programs during her tenure and gained the prestigious Research 1 designation. Prior to joining the university, Castor served as Florida Commissioner of Education for seven years from 1986-93. She was the first woman ever elected to the Florida Cabinet and was a strong advocate for increasing teacher salaries and broadening the revenue base to support education at all levels. She initiated the state’s first pre-kindergarten program and established the Children’s Coalition, a support group of business leaders. Castor is currently the President and Founder of the Campaign for Florida’s Future a public policy center dedicated to supporting and researching issues around education, health care, and election reform. In 2005 she was appointed to the National Commission on Election Reform chaired by Former President Jimmy Carter and Former Secretary of State James Baker. Castor was the 2004 Democratic Nominee for the US Senate from Florida. Castor earned a BA in education from the Glassboro State College (New Jersey) and a Masters Degree in Education from the University of Miami. She began her career as a secondary school teacher in East Africa and later taught at Holmes Elementary School in Miami, Florida. She served three terms as a state senator from the west coast of Florida, becoming the first female to hold the position of President Pro Tempore (1085-86) and chaired the Appropriations Committee on Education. In her first elective office, she served a four-year term on the Hillsborough County Commission, becoming the chair in 1976. Castor has received numerous awards for leadership in education. In 1995 she was inducted into the Florida Women’s Hall of Fame. She is a member of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (NCTAF), a former trustee of the Board of the National March of Dimes. She currently serves on the Hillsborough County Education Foundation, the Tampa Bay History Center and is a Co-Chair of the Committee on Fair Elections. Castor is married to Samuel P. Bell III, a former legislator from Volusia County and a partner in the Tallahassee law firm of Pennington, Wilkinson, Bell and Dunbar. They have six children, all residing in Florida with their families.
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An attorney by profession, Bill Sublette earned his law and bachelor degrees from the University of Florida. He moved to Orlando in 1988, and in 1992 won a seat in the Florida House of Representatives, where he served for eight years. During his time in the Legislature he filled a variety of leadership positions, including stints as Chairman of the Education Appropriations Committee, Chairman of the House Public Responsibility Council, and Chairman of the Orange County Legislative Delegation. Throughout his tenure he was consistently ranked as one of the most effective legislators in the House by the media.
Betty Castor has a long and distinguished career in public service. She has held prominent leadership positions in education, most recently as President and CEO of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards located in Arlington, Virginia.