My name is Dr. Trudy Jermanovich. In looking at the supplemental materials purchase of BrainPOP Science for the middle grades, I was encouraged that the survey taken by teachers showed they were excited about having this program available for their students. BrainPOP Programs have been used successfully by teachers at both the Elementary and Middle School levels for years. Unfortunately, at the end of the last school year the ability of schools to purchase the BrainPOP program was canceled without first asking teachers if they were using these programs successfully with their students. The way to use technology has been taken out of the hands of teachers and this highlights a systemic problem in Broward Schools. The elimination of the BrainPOP purchase is another example of the district micromanaging what happens in a classroom and will inevitably cause more teachers to leave the profession. The loss of autonomy in deciding how to properly teach standards to their individual students is now being dictated by upper level administrators in the district. Teachers are creative by nature and wish to utilize their own strengths when teaching their students. When this autonomy is removed, teachers are not as effective and become less willing to remain in teaching. When told that they must teach in a certain way and within a certain time frame, they lose this autonomy. I support the purchase of BrainPOP Science for Middle School and suggest you should consider also purchasing the general BrainPOP programs for both Elementary and Middle Schools. I believe these programs should be made available by the district at no cost to the school’s budget. Schools with lower numbers have difficulty making these purchases and so this leads to inequality of resources. I believe if the district were going to absorb the cost that a survey would show that many teachers would choose to use this program. I also believe you should find a typing program for both Elementary and Middle School students. Typing is an invaluable skill which should be taught as it was for years in this District. Take away some test prep and find time for typing.