Trails in the Sand by Peter Traceit: The Street Detective
Endorsing candidates for political seats is a serious responsibility. When an organization with thousands of members wants to endorse candidates, they usually convene their executive board to interview candidates and come to consensus.
Peter Traceit, deep in the rumor mill, is learning that the Broward Teachers Union has some serious rifts that are about to come to a head.
Recently Donna Korn,, incumbent for the at large seat 8, used social media to announce that “Broward teachers” support her re-election, but she was upended by a teacher with some straight facts that resulted in her taking down the post. Peter Traceit has learned the following from the Broward teacher’s correction:
- Though there are three candidates in the race, the BTU only interviewed Korn to decide who the organization would endorse for the county wide seat. 18 year old opponent Raymond Adderly’s statement that BTU president Anna Fusco didn’t take him seriously as a candidate rings true since she didn’t even bring him forward for consideration for endorsement.
- A little over half, about 55 percent of teachers, are dues paying members of the BTU. That means about half don’t believe the juice is worth the squeeze with the BTU and Anna.
- But what the Street Detective finds most interesting is that the correction to Donna P Korn’s post is that there are many teachers who do not support Korn and would not be voting for her.
Tracing the trails in the sand, ol Peter Traceit discovered that after her “dismal performance” with the North Broward Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta’s Connect and Elect, the investigation of her inappropriate dealings as a Board member with vendor Chuck Puleri of Herff Jones and rumors that the Grand Jury report is not very favorable to her re-election to her county wide seat should be the least of Korn’s worries.
In inquiring about why there is such dismal membership in the BTU, the Street Detective stumbled upon some new news that retells of some old news.
So, let’s get with the old. Word on the streets is Lisa Maxwell of the Broward Principals and Assistants Association (BPAA) has been nothing but a proverbial thorn in the side of Fusco, Superintendent Cartwright aka Suspect C and many Broward Board members. She fired off a scathing letter to the Board three weeks ago accusing them of sitting on their hands while principals, namely Black females, are under attack by the BTU president and her team. Word is that Maxwell also had her attorney send a public records request to the Board asking for text messages, emails and other communications between Suspect C, Board members and Fusco. The time to respond to the request is long overdue, and the school district is out of compliance with the request. Ol Peter Traceit was told that Board members and Fusco are refusing to give up the communications outlined in the request because if these communications go public, they would make Nixon’s Watergate, Brady’s Deflategate, the Jussie Smollet MAGAgate, the January 6th Inquiry, and the OJ Simpson, Robert Blake, Michael Jackson, Bill Cosby and R. Kelly trials seem like misdemeanors.
Detective Traceit will remind you of some more old news. President Fusco and Suspect C have a lot in common. The rules are only good as long as they suit them. Mario Hood, a teacher from Cross Creek School, filed an official complaint against Fusco for bullying and harassment and even accused her of violating his employee rights by refusing to allow him to join the BTU without first having a one on one meeting with her. When Hood refused to meet with Fusco, she barred his membership from the BTU. During the investigation, Hood was told that anything that happened more than six months prior could not be considered in the case. How is that so when Broward defines bullying with the acronym RIP— Repeated, Imbalance of Power. In order for something to be repeated, it has to happen over a period of time and a six month expiration ensures that hardly any bullying case would ever be substantiated.
Interestingly, Pater Traceit also got the lead on who heard and decided the bullying case filed by Hood against Fusco. The district went and plucked up Michael Walker, a white male director for Broward schools who had never even been involved in hearing a bullying case. Another interesting fact about Walker: If you recall, Walker’s position was eliminated from the organizational chart, but in Suspect C’s genius, she promoted him to an Executive Director position that he did not apply for, did not interview for and has no experience with the work. Folk are whispering to the Street Detective that the Executive level position was his reward for delivering on a negative bullying finding.
With all the chaos, Fusco has not grown weary. The next trail in the sand and what the streets are saying is another one of her members has filed a lawsuit against the BTU alleging that though he was a dues paying member, she refused to represent him in a grievance. Peter Traceit is learning that there are some principals that Fusco likes and when teachers complain or file grievances against her token principals, they are ignored. That might explain why almost half of teachers elect not to join.
Peter Traceit has a question for the BTU. Since the average teacher salary in Broward is significantly lower than the counties directly above and below, would it benefit Fusco to focus on an average salary commensurate to the sister counties instead of targeting Black folk?
The streets are talking and trails are made in the sand and the Street Detective will follow
