A new, more political Miami-Dade School Board will be officially sworn in Tuesday. What next? | Opinion

There is no doubt the results of this month’s elections are transforming the power structure and mandates of the nine-member Miami-Dade School Board, not to mention the atmosphere on the dais and the Board’s interaction with parents and the public.

Our new reality officially and publicly begins Tuesday when two newly elected members, endorsed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, are sworn in at a special School Board meeting at the district headquarters in downtown Miami.

Roberto Alonso will take the seat held by longtime member Perla Tabares Hantman, first elected in 1996 and who served as chairwoman several times. Monica Colucci will replace another veteran, Marta Perez, who was first elected in 1998. Perez lost her reelection bid this year after falling out of favor with DeSantis and Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez.

Suddenly, the nine-member board is decidedly conservative and Republican, although still officially nonpartisan. But we’re not supposed to notice that Nuñez swooped in last week to swear in these two newest Board members in an unofficial ceremony, apparently held for the convenience of their families.

Certainly, conservative viewpoints are as welcome as liberal ones in education. But shame on DeSantis for politicizing school boards and demonizing professional educators.

Moving in, moving out

In just one year, DeSantis has deftly engineered the removal of a total of seven out of 18 School Board members from Miami-Dade and Broward, the fourth- and sixth-largest school districts in the country respectively. Last week, his appointees in Broward sacked the superintendent. And in Miami-Dade board meetings, incivility and chaos have reigned as Proud Boys and Moms for Liberty become frequent attendees.

To form a possible 5-4 voting bloc, the two new members in Miami-Dade will join the three current conservatives on the board: Mari Tere Rojas, the presumed new chair; Lubby Navarro; and Christi Fraga’s replacement. Fraga is leaving to run for mayor of Doral. Monday night, DeSantis named Miami attorney Daniel Espino to replace Fraga. Espino is a former Miami Springs city councilman and the current chairman of the South Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

That leaves members Steve Gallon III, Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall, Lucia Baez-Geller and Luisa Santos as the more liberal voices on the Board.

Although school board seats are nonpolitical, that has hardly been the case in these races, and that’s a shame. DeSantis’ war on what he calls “woke” education forces in Florida is sending board members to their corners, where they may be prepared to dig in their ideological heels over issues that demand more thoughtful and thorough consideration, if the districts’ students are to benefit.

Alonso and Colucci were among the 30 school board candidates across the state whom DeSantis endorsed ahead of the elections. They support his agenda for limiting conversations about race, gender identity and sexual orientation in schools, as if these had been overriding classroom issues.

”Things have radically changed in the district from how they were before in a matter of months,” Perez told the Editorial Board. She’s right. If it were for the better, we’d be on board.

Will they be independent?

Alonso and Colucci vow they will act on their own. Still, it’s hard not to think that DeSantis’ favored School Board members aren’t coming with an aggressive reform agenda. One need look no further than the Broward County School Board.

Earlier this year, citing the state investigation into the 2018 Parkland school shooting that blamed members for not acting on school safety issues, DeSantis removed five Board members and handpicked four to fill seats until the elections.

Last week, those newly appointed members led the unexpected ambush on School Superintendent Vickie Cartwright, who was unceremoniously fired following a 12-hour meeting. Her work performance was not on the agenda, but was placed on the table by a DeSantis appointee. Her departure follows that of Miami-Dade Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, who left on his own accord this year to run the Los Angeles Unified School District.

It can’t be forgotten that DeSantis battled with both districts over mask mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic. He can boast that he “cleaned house,” but of what? Professionals who put students first, not political gain?

We’re about to see what that new house looks like. Unfortunately, it will not be a harmonious one unless each and every member commits to respect and civility. A recent Miami Herald article cited how the atmosphere at School Board meetings already has grown hostile and tense between speakers, parents, audience members and the Board. Those who speak out or complain, from either side, are swiftly removed from the chamber by police officers.

And all this is before the newest members have taken their seats on the dais.

This story was originally published November 8, 2022 at 11:46 PM.