Sources: School Board Lawyer Giving Opinions, But Not Eligible To Practice Law
BY BUDDY NEVINS
A School Board lawyer who is giving legal opinions is not eligible to practice law in Florida.
Douglas G. Griffin failed to complete the continuing legal education requirement, according to the Florida Bar website.
Griffin is at the heart of a growing dispute with employees, who face disciplinary charges.
The School Board’s Rule 4.9 mandates that an employee be told why they were being investigated and be allowed to present a defense. The rule was passed to end the Kafkaesque, UnAmerican investigations launched against employees until a few years ago.
Griffin allegedly advised school higher-ups that they do not have to follow the due process rules passed by the School Board, according to sources.
The lawyer and Desmond Blackburn, the area superintendent for Central Broward, have refused to tell several employees why they are being investigated, the sources say.
They get around the rule by refusing to call it an investigation. They say that the employee is being examined to determine if their contract should be renewed.
“Our people have the right to know what they are being accused of and the right to bring evidence forward when they are threatened with loss of their job,” said Lisa Maxwell, executive director of the Broward Principals and Assistants Association.
That seems downright American to me.
Maxwell’s association has filed a grievance in one case involving one of its members who was denied due process, allegedly by Griffin and Blackburn. She says there are several other similar cases where employee rights are being violated.
The employees’ experience is in sharp contrast with promises from the School Board that it has changed the way it does business.
It seems that the school system is the same old, same old bureaucrats doing what they want, despite the rules established by the Board.
Has anything really changed to justify voting for $800 million in bonds?
The School Board should be worried about this story because:
(1) Employees rights are allegedly being violated. These are the very same employees that are being asked to sell the public on supporting the bonds.
(2) The School Board’s own rules, approved by their own vote, are allegedly being violated.
(3) Blackburn is one of those accused of violating employee rights. This is the same guy trying to sell employees on the bonds. He’s not doing a good job of it because employees don’t like him, maybe in part because of these accusations.
Here is a portion of an e-mail I received from a teacher: Despite Dr. Blackburn’s 20- minute speech on why we all need to vote for the bond referendum at…. I’m voting against giving this organization any more money.
(4) The school system has a lawyer giving legal advise who is not licensed to practice in the state of Florida because he failed to keep up his continuing education, according to the Florida Bar.
There is absolutely no excuse for a lawyer not fulfilling a basic requirement to practice law. No excuse.
Some teachers who let their license expire have been fired.
If Griffin can’t follow the simplest of Bar rules, how can he be trusted?
If this is the kind of people running the school system, why should anybody vote for the $800 million bond issue?
From the Florida Bar website:
Douglas G Griffin |
Delinquent – CLER |
Not eligible to practice in Florida |
| ID Number: | – | 143091 |
| Address: | 600 SE 3rd Ave Fl 11 Fort Lauderdale, Florida 333013125 United States |
|
| Phone: | 754.321.2050 | |
| Fax: | 754.321.2705 | |
| E-Mail: | doug.griffin@browardschools.com | |
| vCard: | ||
| County: | Broward |
| Circuit: | 17 |
| Admitted: | 09/14/1998 |
| 10-Year Discipline History | None |
CLER Delinquent Members. Any member who is suspended by reason of failure to complete continuing legal education requirements shall be deemed a delinquent member. A delinquent member shall not engage in the practice of law in this state and shall not be entitled to any privileges and benefits accorded to members of The Florida Bar in good standing. Any member suspended for failure to complete continuing legal education requirements may be reinstated as elsewhere provided in these rules.
XXXXX
An online biography of Griffin from the School Law Answer Manual, which he is credited with authoring:
Douglas G Griffin, Esq., has over twenty years of experience representing dozens of public school districts. His extensive experience includes private practice as well as over ten years of service as in-house, school board attorney for a Florida public school district. Graduating cum laude from law school, he has gone on to a distinguished career in counseling school systems and their stakeholders.
Mr. Griffin’s decades of service have afforded him far ranging experiences in nearly all major facets of laws effecting schools. He has personally represented school boards in litigation involving employment matters, special education and bid protest with extraordinary results.
Many school system stakeholders know, though, that education legal matters are often dominated by employees, students and special education. Like most other school system stakeholders, Mr. Griffin has spent vast amounts of time addressing each of these areas. Working hand in hand with administrators on a daily basis has afforded Mr. Griffin the opportunity to field phone calls from all ranges of the spectrum of civil rights organizations over student matters, sometimes with both ends of the spectrum addressing the same matter. These are not to exclude, however, the more mundane, but no less important, student issues that arise every day such as the daily phone calls when students want to meet at the flagpole, or have reportedly brought contraband on campus and the administrator needs to know whether he or she can search.
Yet, even when a person has such far ranging experiences, it is natural for certain matters to pull more at the heart. That is the case for Mr. Griffin when it comes to special education. Having spent so many years watching passionate special education professionals commit their lives to their students, Mr. Griffin knows first-hand how dedicated these loving people are to our most special children. As the parent of his own profoundly disabled child, though, Mr. Griffin brings a unique perspective and passion for these matters.
Mr. Griffin has negotiated dozens of collective bargaining agreements and implemented many more. He has also guided countless administrators through virtually every employee legal issue ranging from First Amendment rights, proper evaluation, drug testing, discipline and reasonable accommodations; and defended the district when necessary to stand by his advice.
Most importantly, Mr. Griffin has dedicated his career to giving educators the highest quality legal and practical advice to help them navigate the complex modern framework of laws that govern what they do on a day-to-day basis. Whether the legal issue involves a student, parent, teacher, staff, administrator, or a combination of all of them, Mr. Griffin has almost certainly addressed it. In fact, that is why he wrote this book. He knows, first hand, that it is desperately needed.
Decades of experience persuaded Mr. Griffin to write the School Law Answer Manual, a much needed, and first of its kind, resource for school system stakeholders. We hope you enjoy.
Douglas Griffin could not be reached for comment. I will be glad to include his comments at anytime.
June 21st, 2014 at 4:46 pm
This is correct! I had an investigation started by SIU I was not told the allegations. It wasn’t until 6-7 months later I found I was accused of possibly contributing to the homosexuality of a student. Desmond Blackburn needs to go. This attorney needs to go. The COST the tax payer too much. Protect the old guard. Students, parents and staff have little to no rights! BTU is useless. Thank you so much for your continued HONEST reporting. From what I see Broward Beat has become the place to read REAL news. The truth
FROM BUDDY:
Thank you for your kind comments.
June 21st, 2014 at 5:06 pm
Contributing to the homosexuality of a student? What is this 1955?
June 21st, 2014 at 5:17 pm
This is so disturbing on so many levels. When will The Broward School Board and its hand picked administration learn that they are not above the law. Does filing a grievance really ever result in any sanctions or disciplinary action? And asking for almost a billion dollars when they cannot follow rules or adhere to professional regulations is the epitome of arrogance. Taxpayers should unite and demand corrective action. Another Grand Jury investigation maybe?
June 21st, 2014 at 5:25 pm
We believe specifically that an employee has a right to know the allegations and the policies for which they are alleged to have violated before any pre-Disciplinary meeting. The Attorneys for the District have disagreed,and consequently we have filed a grievance and are awaiting the outcome of that process. We feel that it is very important that due process rights are protected and that there be some process to ensure that they in fact are protected. As an Association we are committed to working with the District to improve policies if they are deficient and processes if they are not working.
June 21st, 2014 at 6:16 pm
They are at it again, Just when you think you can trust them. Runcie said when he arrived, he did not understand why employees thought the school district was hated so much. Just read the article again and the comment by Lisa Maxwell. Administrators are so afraid they don’t want to be noticed for anything. Hopefully, the school board will ask some questions before the meeting on Tuesday or some administrators will be out of jobs without even knowing if they did anything wrong!!!!!
June 21st, 2014 at 6:56 pm
@Rules are not made to be broken!
….When will The Broward School Board and its hand picked administration learn that they are not above the law….
well they may learn and put 2 and 2 together inNovember when the $800,000,000.00 bond request is DOA by voters
then we get new people on the school board and send runcie packing
June 22nd, 2014 at 11:01 am
Just ANOTHER reason I will not vote, and ask others NOT to vote for the $800 million bond.
One issue after another.. Not adhering to their own rules? Sad…
Rico Petrocelli
Former Councilman
City of Plantation
June 22nd, 2014 at 11:43 am
No.
Lisa Maxwell needs to go.
For far too long Lisa Maxwell has been in bed with the school board, only looking out for her own interests. She makes a huge salary and has done nothing to support and protect her clients, except blow smoke which has resulted in no fire.
Lisa Maxwell is just upset because she has sold out her members for year through making deals and now there is a superintendent that is not moving forward with that quid pro quid arrangement of the past.
Lisa Maxwell represents only those principals that she has a relationship with. Principals complain that she picks and chooses who she will support based on her relationship with them (the good old boy system). There is a host of administrators who pay dues whose interests and school problems go unaddressed by Lisa Maxwell. She has the audacity to want a raise. She does no work. She farms out work to her legal friends, running up bills and now wants to increase dues paid by members to pay legal fees. For what, all that money and nothing has come out good for administrators.
Last year, they did a survey of principals through a private agency. We never got the result. Why? Because the questions where members were asked about her leadership did not look too good. How does she bring in an independent evaluator using members’ money and not publish the results?
Do yourselves a favor administrators. Quit BPAA and give yourselves a raise. If you ever get into trouble, get a lawyer. Now that gets results. Just review the case from the AP at Thurgood Mashall ES. The AP bypassed Lisa Maxwell and her so-called legal team and got some real results. Every person they represent loses.
June 22nd, 2014 at 12:55 pm
I mean how much more of this are we going to put up with. Get your shit together school bd. If this att. does not meet Florida “bar ” requirements, than hit the road tell him. Just in today’ newspaper all the fraud, mismanagement, etc going on w/ these charter schools. I have been saying for years they are a waste of tax payer dollars. You think the tax payers are going to just give you over 800 million($) to surplus your budget? Oh I know they are all stupid. Think again..No more money guys….
June 22nd, 2014 at 3:17 pm
I hope the Superintendent and the Chair of the board take swift action to explain how this happened and what they intend to do about it. We are talking about $800 Million in tax payer funds on the ballot in November.
The organization must have clear transparency and accountability of everyone on board.
The public demands it.
June 22nd, 2014 at 3:18 pm
H, Foster,
You are exactly right about Lisa Maxwell. She should have been fired long ago. I never quite understood how she could advocate for assistant principals and principals. If an ap had an issue, it seemed she always took the principal’s side. It is true she helps her friends and does not act impartial for all of the members. However, this newest problem affects denying an individual the right to know what they are accused of and be able to defend themselves. Many of the administrators are not being given even their most basic rights to due process. If this is allowed to happen, just wait everyone in the Broward District Schools will be looking over their shoulder to see if they are next.
June 22nd, 2014 at 5:46 pm
Lisa Maxwell has saved countless Principals and Assistant Principals from being unfairly treated by those who would anonymously make false claims such as the cowards above who hide behind the blogs without identifying who they are. It is also a tactic used by those who are the actual targets of this article to deflect and shift the attention away from themselves. Maxwell is not the subject of lawyers failing to be properly licensed, nor administrators who are unfairly treating employees. Nice try, but the public won’t be so easily tricked. Focus on the real problems.
June 22nd, 2014 at 8:34 pm
I wonder how long it’ll take the system lackeys to call Buddy nasty names for exposing this, or blame everyone but not the administration and the board that gives the sup’t. pass after pass.
June 23rd, 2014 at 8:53 am
Warren is right on. The Ap referenced in that post actually used and misrepresented to the Board the BPAA’s own legal letter and, without that, this Ap would have been fired, end of that story. In the last year, the sup’t has forced the administrators into taking action, and Maxwell saved jobs last year when the sup’t was gong to axe up to 50 admin on a hit list we saw in the news, and all of the cases before the review board were won, not lost. People like Foster are doing the sup’t bidding by distracting people, and the real problem is the sup’t is charging people with wrongful acts without giving them the notice or the policies at issue, and that is just wrong to all of us working there. If you want to fire one of us, we want to know the charges. How is that wrong?
June 23rd, 2014 at 11:24 am
Lisa Maxwell has helped no one but herself and those attorneys she gives the business to. She needs to be fired. She did not help one single principal or assistant principal on the so-called “hit list” keep their jobs or not be demoted last year. Not one. And she has not helped not one this year. She is useless. Hundreds of administrators pay into her organization but she focuses on assisting the elite few and she has been unsuccessful in helping them. The administrators in Broward should do just like the Teacher’s Union. A sitting administrator should be elected to that position for a term of 2-4 years.
Lisa Maxwell has not been interested in due process or what is fair until her elite group of administrators were impacted. I agree. Give yourself a raise and stop paying her ridiculous salary. She has no power or influence to change anything. Get yourself a real lawyer.
June 23rd, 2014 at 11:39 am
The Principals are given too much power. They bully, make up lies about employees who do not agree with them, and either lay off employees for no good reason, or make up accusations about them. Or if it is a teacher, mess with classrooms, teaching assignments, etc. Look at Northeast High..what the hell is going on there? How is the principal still the principal?
June 23rd, 2014 at 1:17 pm
The system is broken as a whole. They ( these MANYpeople Within the system) they forget it’s that education is a service industry we are supposed to serve the students and Stirpe serve the community. We are supposed to be responsible with the money that is given. We as the people need to hold them accountable for all that they do from that they don’t do. even when following their own policies….well or rather not following them at all! There are no rights for employees. The students and parents don’t have right! These people abuse the children and the system everyday! RUNCIE MUST GO! We need a new grand jury indictment. Buddy, please email me! I hold some information you might want to research!
June 23rd, 2014 at 1:33 pm
I was not advised as to why I was removed from my position in February 2005 by an SIU agent with a gun and told I had 30 minutes to leave and report to the Book Depository to load and unload books. This was 8 weeks after my loss in the courts for my whistleblowing lawsuit in which Superintendent Frank Till lied on the stand and said how much he liked me but I couldn’t get along with the Principals and staff because I wouldn’t allow occupancy of newly constructed schools with outstanding code and safety violations.
I was not advised why I was removed until I appeared before a disciplinary committee of Donnie Carter and Lynn Strong who told me my supervision made members of my inspection staff ill. They demanded at that hearing I defend myself against these accusations but I had no documentation and only my word to defend myself. Fortunately, I had copies of documents from my lawsuit which also showed several of the staff that reported to me were insubordinate but I could not proceed with reprimands without the Building Official’s approval. The same Building Official who had been indicted by the Grand Jury in Miami Dade but was let off the hook because no one had died or was injured because of his actions. Broward School District hired him in 2002, after the previous Building Official left after 4 months.
The BTU-TSP Union, under Pat Santeramo hired an attorney to represent me (whose firm also had a contract with the School Board). One of the questions she asked me was what did I do wrong to be recommended for termination. Bad advise later from the same attorney who would not allow me to use past documents to defend old accusations from my superiors and staff in the same hearing. Even so, the Administrative Judge stated I did nothing wrong and to put me back in my job, which the Board ignored. The Board also filed two appeals in the District Court, which were rejected. These appeals stated I had received reprimands and poor evaluations during my employment which were lies. I had copied my personnel file when I was relocated to Purchasing in 2005. The Board refused to even look at my personnel file in 2005 before they recommended my initial termination.
The attorney representing the School Board was Eugene Pettis. Recognize the name, the President of the Florida Bar. During my video deposition, he asked me if I lied. Then he stated everyone lies and he lies all the time.
Mr. Pettis walked away with $150,000 for his work against me including his false statements of the reprimands and poor evaluations. I did not have any reprimands in my personnel file, nor did I ever have any poor evaluations. In fact, Jeff Moquin (Runcie’s right hand man)gave me an Exceeds Expectation evaluation as well as Tom Getz for setting up the initial Building Department in 2000.
My attorney walked away with $149,000. I received my pay and benefits from the date I was finally terminated (almost five years after the initial process started) to the end of my DROP – January 10, 2010 to June 30, 2010.
Santeramo never tried to get me back my position in the Building Department at the direction of a State of Florida Administrative Judge. One of the staff members who testified I made him ill by my supervision, along with 4 others, cited HIPPA laws and would not identify any illnesses or visits to physicians for those illnesses.
That staff member is now the Building Official of the Building Department of Broward County Schools who lied on his application to the Department of Business and Professional Regulations that he had supervised building inspectors but never had.
This was 2005-2010, the original lawsuit began in 2001 for whistleblowing, discrimination, harassment which the Judge ruled did occur but because of Supt. Frank Till’s lying testimony, it was not proven I had failed to be promoted because of my whistleblowing actions. I agree,it doesn’t sound as if much is changed and I agree about the Union. It is not there for the best interests of the teachers or the District. It’s been said, they are there to collect members dues for their own security and salaries, instead of working with the District to achieve the best educational process and operations for the School District and the public.
By the way, I was one of the founding members of the TSP union which joined BTU. Unfortunately, the Union is the only protective organization against abuse by the School District and the School Board. Many members have joined to protect themselves against retaliation from the District for speaking out against corruption and mismanagement.
If anything, my case proves being a member of the Union does not guarantee protection.
In a recent meeting with Runcie, he stated that existing staff would be responsible for the $800 million dollar bond because no money had been set aside in that bond to pay for additional employees. I will say once more, without any accountability, the bond is an exercise in futility. I recommended requesting the Inspector General here in Broward County provide supervision of the proposed Bond but that recommendation was ignored by Mr. Runcie.
June 23rd, 2014 at 4:31 pm
Seems like Doug Griff is simply PERFECT for the School Board. He is simply a wonderful reflection of everything that goes on at that wonderful institution. Touche!
June 23rd, 2014 at 4:53 pm
Becky, you went through hell because of the corrupt system and unfortunately Mr. Runcie’s just on the same path with pretty much the same cast.
Not many people would have the strength to fight them as you did.
June 23rd, 2014 at 6:40 pm
“….The BTU-TSP Union, under Pat Santeramo hired an attorney to represent me (whose firm also had a contract with the School Board)…… Bad advise later from the same attorney who would not allow me to use past documents to defend old accusations from my superiors and staff in the same hearing….”
wow. Becky thank you for sharing. This is priceless. Unless I am mis-understanding this, ALWAYS hire your own attorney. This did not sound like an Attorney-Client privlege that you expected.
June 23rd, 2014 at 11:50 pm
The only problem with hiring your own attorney is you would have to pay for it after paying $600 per year for BTU-TSP representation. What I spoke about above was after spending close to $35,000 fees and costs for an attorney to represent me in my whistle-blowing lawsuit against the School Board.
After losing the case in 2004, the School Board came after me for $87,000 in legal fees for their outside attorney and more than half of that amount for Marilyn Battista, who was a full time employee for the School Board. I had to file bankruptcy to keep from losing my home. In the 2004 case, the School Board offered me $600,000 to go away, $400,000 for each of the other inspectors and $200,000 for our attorney. When we all refused to take the money and only asked to have the District enforce building code violations, the attorney informed us they were withdrawing from my case on the Friday before the trial started on Monday. Efforts to get another attorney to take the case was thwarted by our attorney, who refused to allow another attorney take over the case, even though we had two other attorneys who agreed to do so.
This same attorney approved a juror whose parents were best friends with Bob Parks. When I disagreed, she stated he wouldn’t be a problem because he was an alternate. He became the jury foreperson. Someone forgot to ask Dr. Till why he threatened to terminate me for evacuating South Broward’s teachers and their children who were cleaning their classrooms in a building with no functioning fire alarm, no fire sprinklers, and several other building code violations that did not allow occupancy. Jerry Graziose, the District’s Fire Marshal was told the day before the condition of the building and occupancy was not allowed. Mr. Graziose still told the teachers it was okay to occupy the building and bring their children. After I left the jobsite after advising Till to evacuate the teachers and their children; he put the teachers back in the building and sent their children to Dania Elementary.
The reason I am relating some of my experiences is to let everyone know what goes on behind closed doors. I worked in the outside construction world before I began working for school districts and it was beyond my comprehension how little upper administration cared about the children, teachers and staff who had to occupy these schools. It was even more eye awakening to me to work with some of the contractors who had graduated from the same construction college at the same university I did and who were trying to propose change orders that were illegal. Then, I found out that the ethics class is an elective in that school and not a required subject.
June 24th, 2014 at 7:53 am
1) DON’T VOTE THEM THAT $800 MILLION.
2) VOTE EVERYSINGLE MEMBER OF THE SCHOOL BOARD OUT AS THEY COME UP FOR RE-ELECTION.
3) HAVE A BODY OTHER THAN THE SCHOOL BOARD PICK, INSTALL AND SUPERVISE THE NEXT SCHOOL BOARD SUPERINTENDENT – AND MAKE IT SOON.
June 24th, 2014 at 10:00 am
Ana Gomez- Mallada……….WELL SAID!!!! If what you suggest does not happen, cases like that described by Blackwood will go on as usual.
Also, on a more important note…has anyone seen the County Commission Agenda for today? They are getting ready to screw all those municipalities that are part of the doomed Resource Recovery Board ILA….to the tune of north of 125 million and counting…the proposed reso is a scream!!! A must read!!!!
June 24th, 2014 at 11:31 am
Welp. I just watched the Broward School Board meeting. The board members and superintendent successfully renewed all principals and assistant principals with the exception of a few APs and principals who were not recommended for renewal. A couple of them optioned to retire or resign in lieu of being non-renewed.
Lisa Maxwell failed to save anyone’s job just like last year. She needs to GO! She is ineffective.
June 24th, 2014 at 11:32 am
Mr. Nivens,
Not sure why my comment was rejected…..no foul langauage, etc.
Did I violate a rule of some sort? If so, where are they posted so I can review and ensure I will stay in alignment with such rules….Many thanks
FROM BUDDY:
I have no idea what comment you are referring to in this message.
June 24th, 2014 at 3:18 pm
I have been sitting on my response since this article was published but after watching the first half of today’s School Board meeting, I cannot help but respond. Employees on annual contract can have their contract non-renewed for any reason. District staff taking advantage of this by not informing annual contract employees, in advance, is absolutely establishing a negative culture within the district. Any employee in danger of not being renewed should have documentation throughout the school year. To hear Desmond Blackburn and Amanda Bailey flat out lie to the board is infuriating. There are cases where there is no documentation and the employee is blindsided at the end of the school year. In regards to annual contract employees that are not being renewed because of something as egregious as student safety or illegal activities, why is Desmond Blackburn and the Department of School Performance and Accountability waiting until the end of the school year to notify them? If it is so egregious, then why are the employees left in their position until July 1st with no charges against them? I think maybe the Chief School Performance and Accountability Officer doesn’t like to get his hands dirty.
Another lie was that the district is following policy 4.9 by notifying employees of what they have been accused of prior to their pre-disciplinary conference. I know for a fact that this is not the case and that the staff has been advised that they do not have to follow policy. So when did the district decide to rewrite the Constitution? They are not just “getting around the rule,” they are blatantly denying employees their right to due process.
Now onto Douglas Griffin. Has anyone checked his ties to Chicago? Our former Director of transportation was brought in from Chicago, our current Chief Strategy and Operations Officer, Public Information Officer, Chief Facilities and Construction Officer are all from Chicago! Just go to the Broward County Public Schools website and click on Leadership and try not to cry!!! I wonder how many in lower management have been brought in that we don’t know about. Maybe we should be taking a closer look at Runcie’s ORG chart! Just love how he can bring the corruption from Chicago right to Broward and then try to pin it on the School Board, now that he has his five year contract!
June 25th, 2014 at 8:07 am
The school board has hired this union busting attorney (which now I find cannot practive law in Florida) so that they can go after the unions. Instead of trying to work with the unions for what is best for both the district, employees and most important the students of broward county public schools. If I was hiring an attorney I would make sure with the Department of Business and Professional Regulations that they are licensed is valid and active.
June 25th, 2014 at 12:56 pm
The school board is told by Mr. Carland all the time that they can’t question or interfere with Mr. runcie in day to day operations. That is with staff and students. The school board knows FULL well what they have done….what they have allowed. How will all of this make Broward schools a better place. If teachers are hunted and unwanted administration can be removed….how is there any stability? No one will want to work for them. Then Mr. Runcie can move all the people he wants into positions so he can continue to bleed the public for political gains. Every school board member runs on a platform of protecting children. But one example is the sexual assaults at DBHS and the girls were unprotected. One victim was told to get over it because she wasn’t raped! I and MANY others like me have been exposing these abuses for a long time! Broward school board is impotent of any power over the people they hire. The whole system needs to change
June 25th, 2014 at 1:57 pm
Dr. Blackburn did indeed lie. He cannot produce video or documentation on most of these non renewals.. Amanda is known for protecting a few and leaking out investigative info to her friends. The point Rupert and Osgood made is on target. This “managerial right” is being abused. AP’s that have been in the county for years have a dispute with their principal, and they are non renewed. Too many principals are vindictive and mean spirited. I hope more people speak out about this. Ms. Bartleman is beginning to see this as well. Kudos to the Board members that question this practice!
June 25th, 2014 at 2:15 pm
Ana – Vote them out and vote for who? Every race except for one is only democrats. Republicans can’t even get themselves organized enough to not have republicans filing against an incumbent Republicans. The Republican party has provided no alternative.
Rupert vs St Clair = two democrats
Levinson vs Spince = two democrats
Murray vs Brenson= two democrats
Why, because Broward’s Republicans are whiner who pontificate but never do.
Don’t even get me started on the county commission races.
Stop shouting and do something. It is fine to be in opposition to something when you have an alternative but you never offer an alternative,
June 26th, 2014 at 8:08 am
The republicans are attacking their own who attend gay events, running for school board? Get your priorities straight
June 26th, 2014 at 8:21 am
“The Principals are given too much power. They bully, make up lies about employees who do not agree with them, and either lay off employees for no good reason, or make up accusations about them. Or if it is a teacher, mess with classrooms, teaching assignments, etc.” Well said, Hollyberry, well said. You are on the money. They run their little fiefdoms with all the cruelty of a coward…which is really the only strength a coward has.