Before being elected to the powerful Broward County School Board in 2000, Beverly Gallagher was a PTA mom and substitute teacher who campaigned relentlessly about overcrowded classrooms at the public schools her three children attended in booming southwest Broward.

Her image was that of a hard-charging parent activist-turned-politician who served on a board that ruled over one of the nation's largest school districts.

On Wednesday, Gov. Crist suspended Gallagher from her board seat after federal authorities charged her with accepting thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for helping steer lucrative school construction projects to undercover FBI agents posing as contractors.

Her attorney, Steve Rossi, said Thursday Gallagher was upset. ``Obviously, no one would want to be in this kind of position,'' he said. ``She's been very active in the community. She's never been in trouble before.''

The journey of the 51-year-old Pembroke Pines woman from a passionate and popular education advocate to that of a politician in shackles in a Fort Lauderdale federal courtroom has shaken scores of Broward parents.

``Bev came up from the ranks,'' said Jeanne Jusevic, a parent activist. ``She -- at one time -- was one of us.''

Gallagher's foray into the world of Broward politics began in the late 1980s, when she and her husband moved to southwest Broward from Michigan, and she volunteered as a room mother in her daughter's kindergarten class at Pembroke Pines Elementary.

She swiftly moved up the PTA ladder as her kids moved on to new but crowded schools -- an issue that would become her crusade.

By the mid-1990s, Gallagher -- a self-described Type A personality -- was visiting Tallahassee, wearing big, red buttons that read ``End the Classroom Crunch'' to lobby legislators for more school construction dollars.

By 2000, she turned her attention to politics and a seat on the Broward County School Board.

She narrowly made it into office, squeaking by 244 votes to the seat that had been vacated by Diana Wasserman-Rubin, now a Broward county commissioner. Her signature issue: building schools.

A year after her election, Gallagher fast-tracked construction of two elementaries in Miramar -- Silver Shores and Sunset Lakes -- even though it meant the district would pay more for those schools.

``She was very active as far as the overcrowding was concerned,'' said Alex Fekete, a former Pembroke Pines mayor. ``She was always eager to come up with solutions.''

But soon after she reached the pinnacle of her political success came personal strife.

Gallagher's husband moved out of their home and sought a divorce -- one that would turn contentious and costly.

Gallagher, then 42 years old, found herself with barely any money and a new low-paid school board job. At the time, she earned about $3,000 a month -- though her monthly expenses, including the mortgage, were more than double that, court records show.

She had scant work history -- holding jobs at a temp agency and at the mall before she had kids.

``The couple did not invest; and had no savings,'' one court document states.

Years before the divorce, Gallagher's ex-husband -- Thomas Gallagher, an attorney who used to work at the prominent Fort Lauderdale firm Ruden McClosky but now lives in North Carolina -- had taken over control of the findings after discovering ``a number of credit cards with substantial balances'' that he had not been aware of, court documents say.

``There were calls from creditors and checks were bouncing and there was financial pressure as the parties were living at or just above their income,'' Judge Renee Goldenberg's findings say.

In 2006, Gallagher's ex-husband agreed to pay her his share of what their home was worth in exchange for terminating his monthly alimony. He also paid child support.

Reportedly with the help of lobbyist Neil Sterling, Gallagher in 2002 landed a job as executive director of the scholarship foundation for Community Blood Centers, a nonprofit blood bank in Lauderhill.

According to sources, the FBI is looking into Gallagher's relationship with Sterling, a longtime Broward lobbyist andex-school board member.

Politically, Gallagher continued to defeat her opponents in Broward school elections -- narrowly defeating two challengers in 2004 and fending off another by a wide margin in 2008. But she had lost some support and her clout diminished on the school board.

Then came Wednesday's announcement by federal authorities that Gallagher had been arrested and charged in a corruption probe.

The criminal complaint against Gallagher says she accepted $12,500 from FBI agents posing as consultants for contractors who were trying to land school board projects.

At one point, Gallagher allegedly told undercover agents offering to contribute to her campaign, ``My campaign, I have $90,000 which is more than enough.'' She then added that she would rather ``make money.''

Parents, too, are in disbelief. ``My perspective of Bev was not somebody that would be involved in any of that,'' said Melissa Gleissner, whose daughter attends West Broward High. ``I think Bev did everything within her power to fight for this area.''

Miami Herald staff writers Diana Moskovitz, Hannah Sampson and Nirvi Shah contributed to this report.