A reader who's a Holocaust survivor voices appreciation for a congresswoman's steadfast support of Israel.
I am a Victoria Park resident and parent of two students at Virginia Shuman Young Elementary (VSY).
I urge Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) and the community to reject the proposal to relocate the VSY Montessori program and establish it as a traditional boundary school. There are numerous shortcomings with the proposal. It lacks a cohesive strategy, has an impractical timeline and requires additional funding.
Strategically, BCPS has outlined discrete criteria for schools to be considered for realignment. Virginia Shuman Young falls outside those criteria. The proposed timeline does not allow time for teachers to train and achieve required credentials in the Montessori methods.
Finally, retrofitting facilities and providing required classroom materials requires significant funds at a time in which BCPS is working to reduce costs.
The VSY community offers its hands-on support to spread best practices to other BCPS schools in supporting the goal of lifting all schools. This is the direction of progress.
Michael Wehner, Fort Lauderdale
Thank you for covering the Virginia Shuman Young Elementary parents’ response to the Broward Schools “Redefining Our Schools” proposals. The parents have been models of respectful civic engagement, advocates for community bonds, and embodiment, through action, of their commitment to school choice, high achievement and lived diversity.
This is all in response to unorthodox school district processes, characterized by turnover of ineffective leadership that is struggling to define itself. Hopefully, the School Board will reflect upon and learn from the parents.
Follow these recommendations: Extend the “redefining” process for a few months, ensuring engagement and transparency with the community and basing decisions on statistically significant data and past success. The board can make decisions in mid-November so that parents are informed when the new choice window for schools opens on Dec. 1.
It’s time the board and the district operated with their constituents in mind, supporting students and families.
Chad Scott, Fort Lauderdale
Broward needs to try “Redefining Our Schools,” but the past two weeks shows that they do not have a plan that the community can support.
The town halls began in Hollywood, where a plan was unveiled that no one in the community had seen, leaving people unprepared to respond in real time. The Fort Lauderdale community, especially VSY, had a few days to organize, and hundreds of people showed up with a fact-based response. The district should learn from this experience. If you want real community input, put out a plan early and engage the community.
The plan should have included reasons for specific school changes and models of what the new boundaries would look like after implementation. But it did not. What are the cost estimates of the changes, short- and long-term? They were not provided.
The School Board should put off decisions until it provides more clarity on the plans. The community deserves no less.
Joanne Dussuau, Plantation
As a Holocaust survivor, South Florida resident for more than 65 years and president of the Holocaust Survivors Foundation USA, I want to extend our gratitude to U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson for her steadfast support for the state of Israel.
Rep. Wilson understands America’s and Israel’s shared values and interests in democracy and the rule of law. It is sad that she is being attacked for supporting essential military aid for Israel to defend itself against Hamas and other deadly threats from Iran and its proxies.
The South Florida Holocaust survivor community and the Jewish community have been proud to work in solidarity with Rep. Wilson for many years on combating hatred and other human rights issues.
She, along with the entire South Florida congressional delegation, deserves praise for standing up against the inaccurate and indefensible accusations of “genocide” and other libels against Israel.
David Schaecter, Miami
The writer is president of Holocaust Survivors Foundation USA.
