Education Issues on the Ballot in Miami-Dade, Broward Counties

Education is on the ballot this year.

Four school board seats are up for grabs in Broward County, and voters in Miami-Dade are being asked to renew the expiring referendum from 2018.

School district officials said renewing the referendum is absolutely essential to keep Miami-Dade competitive with other school districts.

If the measure fails, the district said it will lose $300 million for teacher salaries and will lose the funding for 290 school resource officers. 

They are pitching it as an investment in education and the community at large. The average homeowner would see a $20 increase per month in their property taxes. 

Broward voters passed a similar renewal referendum in August.

Now they are choosing four new school board members.

The race hogging the spotlight is the countywide race between newcomer Dr. Allen Zeman and former board member Donna Korn.

It is full of intrigue because Korn was one of four board members removed from office by Governor Ron DeSantis after a grand jury report blamed them for mismanagement of the district’s construction and renovation program. 

I asked each of them for their closing arguments of the campaign. 

“So my first priority is going back and getting focused on classroom education again, we’ve been so focused on the politics surrounding our classrooms, that I think we’ve lost some focus on what’s going on in our classrooms,” Korn said. 

“I can come in and make a big difference for students,” Zeman replied, “and when’s the last time we heard the school board actually talking about students and about learning and about curriculum? Instead, we’re talking about grand juries, ethics violations and all the drama, we just don’t need it anymore.”  

Zeman has been telling voters if Korn wins, DeSantis will once again use the grand jury report as a pretext to remove her from office and replace her with one of his appointees.

Korn said the governor has pledged to honor the will of the people.