Louis Weinstein
Pompano Beach, 33064

The General Counsel has proven herself to have the upmost integrity and respect. Those are traits to be commended, not reprimanded.

To usurp counsel in the middle of litigation is a terrible business practice. Especially now, since the increase in damage control needed because of the open discussions disputing our stance, very likely caused lack of leverage for the District when defending the pending lawsuits.

Should you hold her accountable, then you need to hold yourselves accountable also. The fact that there appears to be a shortage of attorneys, or anyone for that matter, who are willing to work in this District, speaks volumes of this Board's integrity, not the General Counsel's. If the allegations hold an ioata of substance, then what are you teaching the students, that mistakes are not allowed, that hard work and dedication is pointless. How does one learn and grow in that environment. You wonder why we are losing student enrollment.

The constant witch hunt that some of the Board members are on, for political gain only, hurts this County. If this is to make the State happy, why? They are, after all, the ones underfunding education and causing this chaos. This, as elected officials, is your task to change, to take a stand on, not attack those who support you.

Gather, unite, reach out to your representatives en masse. Those reaching out alone, in the eleventh hour, to only share their opinion, do so with intent to divide and conquer and it speaks volumes that their agenda is not in the best interest of Broward. Where are the days where Board Members rally each other to speak up for change, as a united front?

Government entities write mandates that are not always clear or are left to interpretation. That is why we have a judicial system to make deteminations. Support and allow your people to do their job, set precedents for the sake of our children.

I have been a colleague of Marylin Batista since 2004 when I worked with her in the General Counsel's office. I have always known her to be a competent lawyer who conducts herself with a high degree of professionalism. Marylin has held several leadership positions with the Florida School Board Attorneys Association and the Florida Bar Education Law Committee. She participated in drafting the first ever Certification Exam in Education Law, and many lawyers have taken this exam to date. Marylin Batista is well respected in the field of Education Law.