As the Pinellas County school board embarked on a formal search for a new schools chief Thursday, a coalition of business leaders urged them to seek high-caliber executives from a national field. "We know it costs more money to do a national search and use a national search firm, but we feel it is money well spent," said Craig Sher, chairman of the Pinellas Education Foundation, a business-led non-profit that raises money to benefit local schools. Sher's comments came at the beginning of a two-hour presentation during which business leaders laid out numerous cost-cutting measures they say could save the district millions of dollars in the areas of construction, energy, health insurance, maintenance, purchasing and transportation. To see the full story, go here. To see the Education Foundation's full report, click "Comments" below.