PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – Max Tuchman, a Harvard-educated CEO and co-founder of Caribu, an ed-tech company acquired by Mattel in 2022, is running in November hoping to unseat a Miami-Dade County School Board incumbent.
Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed the incumbent, Mary Blanco, last year as the Miami-Dade County School Board District 7 member. He also endorsed her this year. Blanco, a psychologist, was a guidance counselor at Our Lady of Lourdes Academy. She was educated at Miami Dade College and Barry University and is Cuban American.
Tuchman’s grandmother was a Holocaust survivor held in Auschwitz. Her Jewish family fled Ukraine and Poland for Cuba and later moved to Miami where she grew up. She was also educated at the New College of Florida and ran the Teach for America Miami office. The former teacher was also a White House fellow at the Treasury Department.
“My entire career has been in public education, has been in service of children and teachers and our community, so for me when I look at the school board is a policy role, it’s a business role ... it’s a $7 billion budget that our school board members are in charge of,” Tuchman said.
Blanco and Tuchman discussed Parental Rights in Education, a state law requiring school districts to adopt and post policies online for several parental rights, including ways for the public to review instructional material.
Tuchman said she agrees with the law’s opt-out policy but disagrees with curriculum changes that affect other parents. This has been controversial in the context of sex ed, LGBTQ community, and book bans.
“When it comes to certain topics, they do not feel that school is the place for that,” Blanco said about parents who support the law. “They want to reserve the right to have those conversations with their children at home.”
Blanco said that although her values align with conservatives she prioritizes what is best for the students and not for a political party. Tuchman said school board elections need to be nonpartisan.
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