Teachers Association makes endorsement in District 7

Isadora Dean is having a good week.

Dean, a longtime teacher and education advocate officially qualified Monday as a candidate for the Orange County Public School Board, District 7 election. The district includes all of Apopka. Christine Moore is the incumbent, and one of Dean's opponents in the District 7 election.

But that wasn't the only news this week for the Dean campaign. The Orange County Classroom Teachers Association and The Orange Education Support Professionals Association endorsed her candidacy.

Dean grabbed the endorsement of the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association.

"I am honored and proud to earn this vote of confidence from Orange County Classroom Teachers Association and The Orange Education Support Professionals Association," said Dean. "As a former educator and parent of children who attended public schools in Orange County, I share the feelings of teachers, parents that our public school students spend far too much time focusing on standardized tests, and far too little time learning and growing up; that teachers and support professionals are crucial and should be treated with respect and rewarded fairly; that our leaders needs to be fiscally responsible when it comes to spending, especially on programs that do not directly benefit students' education and that parents and community need to be informed and included in important decisions, affecting our schools."

Dean has 42 years of teaching experience in the public education system at Apopka and Ocoee High Schools. She draws on her experience both as a teacher and a parent to lay out her goals if she becomes an OCPS Board member.

“I have always put students first. As the mother of a special needs child, I know that every student has different needs, and every one of them deserves a good education.”

Her priorities as a School Board member are to advocate for fewer high-stakes standardized tests, to push for increased after-school programming and mandatory recess, and to fight to make student literacy a priority again. She will also ensure all students are aware of their post-high school career and collegiate opportunities by expanding career/technical programs.

Dean is a graduate of Florida A&M University. She is married to Apopka City Commissioner Billie Dean, and is a member of Mt. Pleasant Missionary Baptist of Orlando.