Profile in Progressivism: Isadora Dean

Isadora Dean worked as a classroom teacher for 42 years.  Her husband taught for 38 years and is currently an Apopka City Commissioner.  She is thoroughly aware of concerns that impact both schools and the community, so it is no wonder that she has filed to run for public office with the Orange County School Board, District 7.  District 7 has its boundaries almost entirely composed of the north and west Orange County borders, and zig zags across northwest Orange County road sections like Good Holmes Road, Apopka-Vineland Road, Hiawassee, and Colonial.  The district includes the city of Apopka, as well as Zellwood, Lockhart, Ocoee, and Winter Garden.

In her 42 years in the classroom, she taught at Apopka High, Apopka Middle and Acceleration Academy West.  She also taught at Ocoee High School and has maintained strong community connections in Ocoee and Apopka, two densely populated centers of the district.  Dean has outraised all of her opponents in the race, including incumbent Christine Moore, but loaned her campaign $3,000 of seed money to try to unseat the two-term incumbent who was first elected in 2008.  As of the date of this profile, only Dean and Moore have qualified.  Money is not the only positive aspect of Dean’s campaign, as she qualified by petition after going door-to-door with teams of volunteers to make direct contact with voters.  She notes that she has had “no paid help” in her petition gathering effort and has used “online, social media, and door to door” efforts to gather her more than a thousand signed qualifying petitions.

Dean grew up in north Florida, attending Florida A&M and graduating with a degree in Vocational Home Economics (later re-branded as Family & Consumer Science) in 1970.  She was a certified Reading, Exceptional Student Education, and Family/Consumer Science teacher for several decades.  When asked about the issues most frequently mentioned by parents, teachers, students, and other community members, she relates “whole student development, over testing, and employee morale,” as three critically important issues.

Dean promotes the notion that OCPS should teach more technical classes, more real-life skills, and include “recess for every student, every day” at the elementary level.  She openly questions the importance of school grades, downplaying the importance of labels and instead promoting sports programs, and she bristles at the notion of over-testing.  “Students are not data,” she chides.  Dean admonishes the current school board and Dr. Barbara Jenkins, the school superintendent, who have allowed school district employee morale to decline.  She promotes the notion that employee salaries should be increased while bringing attention to undesirable attrition.  “Teachers are leaving like crazy,” she discerns.

When asked to cite specific examples of concerns she has heard on the campaign trail, she notes that “administrative bullying” and the “costly, ineffective positions and programs” have received a lot of negative attention.  Dean mentions perceived problems of resource teachers and administrators who appear to have little positive impact on students, a clear and core focus of her campaign.  When asked about the use of school board member discretionary funds, she asks, “Do we really need it?” and says that she will make discretionary spending a transparent process where decisions are based on employee and community needs. She promotes “integrity in decision-making,” calling attention to a number of OCPS decisions that have received negative attention in recent months.  Dean ends her interview by noting that OCPS needs more “focus on students” and “more real-life lessons.”

This article is one of a series of profiles of political candidates and community members in Greater Orlando.