School Board of Alachua County Chairwoman is being asked to resign

As long as the GOP are merely spoofing Dems by demanding her resignation, I’m good with it. Probably just their way of making sure this gets at least a small amount of coverage in the news cycle and doesn’t get swept under the rug.

 

Thanks for your response. I'm not here to convince anyone, but feel that there is still room for consideration.

I don't think we would all agree. Personally, I wouldn't rush to remove her for posting either of the statements you provide here because I see little difference. There are differences, but not enough to compel me to join the "fire her now!" crowd.

[crowd] Size doesn't matter.

Now apply this criterion (a single lapse of judgement posted on social media) to politicians, CEOs, LEOs and others in leadership positions. Would we rush to fire 'em all? I don't think so. Had she made such a comment while in the act of teaching, it would be diff and I'd be on board w a suspension with a two strikes rule. She did not, however, make this comment in the classroom, though.

 

All fair points again.
I do think her being administrative/political figure is different than if she was directly teaching kids.

The more I think about it, I wonder if situations like this couldn't warrant a special election. Almost like a recall and let the people decide if she stays or goes.

It would be powerful if she was removed because people would be more careful with their words out of fear of public removal, but could embolden bad behavior if she survived the public vote.

 

To your point - if this is a model employee who made a mistake - you could take that into consideration. But even strong employees can be let go over very bad choices.
Further, you mention younger people being brought up on social media - that's a fair point - but that just emphasizes even more how important it is to manage your public messaging as a senior leader, IMO.
Bottom line - this person still has to go out and influence people in the community - if they can't effectively do their job because everyone has decided they are an uncouth idiot because of things they posted on social media, that's a problem.

Many elected leaders get away with saying whatever they want on social media because the only people they are accountable to are their voters. So as long as you only say things that piss off a minority of your constituents, you can pretty much say whatever you want. See Trump and MTG, etc. But unfortunately, for this person, she just alienated almost everyone, and the only defense she has is that other people out there in the world post similar things or worse and that is NOT a good defense for her actions.

 

I was previously operating under the assumption that this person was a deputy superintendent, but she's the chair of the school board. Silly me for not reading closely enough. It does not change my opinion on the matter at all, but is noteworthy that she is a volunteer, not an employee.

Agree that it's a problem; I just don't feel that she should be forced to resign over it.

Side note: As a SB member, she is an elected leader. Your point, though, about lowering the bar for elected leaders is highly troublesome. Perhaps I'm an idealist, but politicians (esp. the ones with great power/influence) should be held to a higher standard, not lower.

Additional side notes: Rockwell has three degrees from UF. She is a former educator, having served as substitute teacher and teacher of record in S FL schools. Her research and teaching involves education for children w disabilities. With that in mind, I'm certain that she is troubled about the current attempts to dissolve the Federal Dept of Education. She has two children w disabilities, who she homeschools.