The three finalists to become superintendent of Broward County Public Schools auditioned for the job Wednesday.
They conducted personal interviews with school board members and also sat in the hot seat, one at a time, and answered questions from a panel of principals and a separate forum of parents and teachers.
“I’m not against charters, I’m against bad schools,” Dr. Peter Licata said when asked about his stance on school choice.
From school choice to teacher salaries to their personal backgrounds, candidates were asked a variety of questions.
Luis Solana, currently an administrator in the Detroit public school system, spoke about his time in Miami-Dade as principal of Norland Senior School.
“Miami Norland was one point away from becoming an F school, and with the work we put in together, we transformed that school into an A school,” Solana said.
Dr. Sito Narcis is the current Superintendent of Schools in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He was asked about the equitable distribution of resources between schools.
“Deerfield has a very different set of needs compared to Parkland, right, or Parkland from Pembroke Pines, yes, all the kids need to learn, but what they bring to the table is different,” Narcisse said.
Likata is the assistant superintendent of Palm Beach County Public Schools. He said he was committed to raising teacher salaries.
“Right now, Broward County is a B, Palm Beach is an A, it’s a buyer’s market for teachers, what sets Broward apart from other counties is if someone is interested in being a teacher, why would they come to Broward County?” said The face.
A parent asked him, “How are you going to protect educators and their livelihoods from politically motivated attacks on their teaching practice?”
“Schools are not places for political attacks,” Likata replied. “They shouldn’t be, we’re here to educate, we’re educators, we’re not lawyers, we’re not politicians.”
But when another parent asked him how he would comply with the Parental Rights Act, which allows any parent to object to a book, which, as we’ve seen, could lead to the removal of books for every child, Licata said the district would uphold the law if he was the boss.
“I’ve read it probably 300 times, I don’t see anything unusual, I think parents just want to be involved in their child’s education,” Licata said.
For some school board members, this response may be hurtful because it does not acknowledge the national controversy surrounding this law.
The school board will make its choice Thursday.