Sunday's letters: School Board leader a right-wing partisan without education experience

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Sun, Jul 9, 2023, 2:28 AM 4 min read

Bridget Ziegler speaks to hundreds of conservatives at a candidates' rally at Sarasota's Robarts Arena in July 2022. The event was held to raise support for GOP candidates in Sarasota and Manatee counties.

Partisanship should disqualify Ziegler

The headline atop Chris Anderson’s Opinion column June 27 was: “Bridget Ziegler has no background in education. Maybe that explains it all.”Does her lack of background disqualify her from being Sarasota County School Board chairman?Ziegler was appointed to the nonpartisan School Board by Gov. Rick Scott in June 2014, only months before she ran for the seat, and she has been an aggressive right-wing partisan ever since.

She was 31; her children were not of school age. She had sold Gucci bags for six years and her only involvement in education was graduating from high school.

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She co-founded Moms for Liberty, a far-right parental rights organization that advocates against school curriculums that mention LGBTQ rights, race, ethnicity, critical race theory and discrimination.

The members believe that parents, not educators, should determine a school’s curriculum and books. Many of their supporters harass teachers, administrators and board members.

More: School Board's Bridget Ziegler rebuts Moms for Liberty 'extremist' label

The Southern Poverty Law Center has termed Moms for Liberty a far-right extremist organization.Ziegler, who doesn’t even send her own children to Sarasota public schools, leads a board majority determined to remake Sarasota’s excellent school system in its image. That partisanship disqualifies her from being on the board.

If Moms for Liberty succeeds, Sarasota will have a mediocre school system.F. Lowell Curtis, Longboat Key

Affirmative action perfectly imperfect

Since the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action, I’m asking, “What now?” What are the right programs to enact that necessitated abolishing affirmative action to better achieve equality?

Affirmative action, I’ll agree, is not a perfect remedy for unequal opportunity for aspiring college students. It was most assuredly imperfect, yet noble, and a positive initiative aimed at achieving balance in just one segment of our society fraught with imbalance regarding race.

So what have we done with the decision of our Supreme Court majority? I don’t think we’ve improved equal opportunity.

I don’t think we’ve improved the human condition or affirmed our commitment to ensuring equality or posterity or strengthening rights for the pursuit of happiness. We certainly have not advanced ourselves toward securing a more perfect union.

As with other recent questionable Supreme Court decisions, we have checked freedoms and strongly affirmed divides while frustrating, marginalizing and further excluding fellow Americans. How are we better?

If sincerely in pursuit of equality, then let’s see the same passion in policy solutions that assure 14^th Amendment rights and reflect our proclaimed values.

Randal Jacobson, Sarasota

Court turns back clock on racial equality

I have so much to say about the Supreme Court’s affirmative action ruling I don’t know where to begin.

First, it is racist, designed to do away with racial equality gains we’ve made. Affirmative action leveled the playing field for many minorities. It did not punish white people.

Second, affirmative action did not let unqualified minorities into universities. The vast majority excelled at Harvard, Northwestern and Princeton. It’s not like these minorities got in and skated.

I can tell you from my own teaching experience at a major university, my minority students were excellent.

We have a Supreme Court majority that wants to turn the clock back on equality and progress. Shame on them! To all my friends of all races and religions: Fight the powers that be in all ways we can.

It is our job to help the new generation by continuing to tell the truth about institutional racism in this country and not let the new radical right of Gov. Ron DeSantis try to erase that ignominious part of our history.

Lou Grossman, Sarasota

Pull together to improve test scores

With Sarasota County schools earning state test scores in the 50's and 60's percentiles, we all know that our students will need a lot of help to improve.

That means the new superintendent, Terrence Connor, has a heavy lift. Commitment from all levels is needed to lay the groundwork for a successful transition.

The principals, teachers, union, public meeting attendees and community must resolve their differences and understand the future success of our students will only materialize if we all are on the same team. The students must also be prepared for some extra studying.

The present “silo” School Board is detrimental. The members must find ways to effectively deliberate toward consensus on topics. They should not expect the new superintendent to be a babysitter.

Connor is being paid a substantial salary that we all hope will prove to be well deserved, but putting in a bonus as part of his contract is not appropriate.

If any bonus is considered, it should be for all the students if they bring up their scores.

How about pizza and soda once a week for lunch?

Carole Nikla, Sarasota

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Right-wing partisanship should disqualify School Board leader

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