Broward County teacher, aide fired
Parents say autistic kids abused verbally, physically in school
A Broward County teacher and classroom aide have been fired after being accused of swearing at and physically abusing kindergarten students with autism.
The Broward School Board fired Tahisha-Ann Brown, a teacher at Pasadena Lake Elementary on Tuesday. Joyce Bradley, a teacher’s aide in Brown’s class, was fired June 23. The employees had been under investigation since May 2019 when abusive language and sounds of slapping were discovered on a recording device. Neither Brown nor Bradley could be reached for comment Thursday.
Parents became concerned in spring 2019 after their child started using curse words and saying “Ms. Brown is going to mess you up.” The child also had bruises. So they placed the recording device in the child’s backpack.
The audio recording depicted “the sounds of slapping and/or hitting of children, as well as children crying, and yelling the word ‘ouch,‘” a district report said.
The parents “sent their findings to authorities, which included a recording of the teachers allegedly lashing out at students, many of whom have trouble communicating,” a district complaint says.
The Pembroke Pines Police and State Attorney’s Office decided not to pursue criminal charges. Several parents have filed lawsuits against the district.
Both employees had prior
posted a statement on her Facebook page.
“In retrospect, there were better ways I could have expressed my thoughts on how important it is for our society to work together to ensure that no one is deprived of their rights. As a woman of color and an elected official, I have worked hard to use my platform to advocate for a variety of community causes. Most of my efforts have met with success.”
Forman added that she took “full responsibility,” that a “valuable lesson has been learned” and said people could “rest assured that nothing similar will occur again.” She described her apology as “sincere and heartfelt.”
The apology had a somewhat unusual format. It was a photograph of a written statement.
The original Monday night post was also a photograph, of a supposed quotation attributed to Hitler explaining that the best way to take control from people is to do so a little at a time, so the erosion is imperceptible, and people won’t realize what’s going on until it is too late. The passage has been shared widely in the past, and Reuters and Politifact concluded it wasn’t from Mein Kampf, and didn’t reflect Hitler’s views.
On Tuesday, state Rep. Michael Gottlieb said Forman posting a quote attributed to Hitler showed “a complete lack of respect for the atrocities of the Holocaust” and demonstrated that “she is not fit for public office.”
U.S. Reps. Alcee Hastings, Debbie Wassserman Schultz, Ted Deutch and Frederica Wilson — all Democrats, as is Forman — said Wednesday that it is “repulsive that she would amplify the supposed ‘wisdom’ from the world’s most heinous mass murderer, anti-Semite, and white supremacist.”
Forman has two opponents in the Aug. 18 election, retired judges Paul Backman and Mark Speiser, both of whom are Jewish.
The election is Aug. 18. All three candidates filed to run in the Democratic primary, but because no Republican or no party affiliation candidates came forward to run for the job, the primary is open to all voters regardless of party, and the winner will get a four-year term as court clerk.