U. S. Rep. Alcee Hastings warned the Broward County School Board in a remarkable letter earlier this month to keep Superintendent Robert Runcie “in his position.”
A Fort Lauderdale Democrat and pioneer civil rights leader, Hastings seemed to be telegraphing that Runcie’s future at the School Board is shaky.
Otherwise, why the letter?
The subtext of Hastings’ supportive two-page letter on congressional stationery: The School Board risks the wraith of the black community if they fire Runcie, Broward’s first African-American school superintendent
The key sentence: is, “Given the coming attacks on K-12 public education, it is prudent that this School Board do all it can to keep Superintendent Runcie in his position to continue the progress that has been made.”
The warning is chilling because it comes from Broward’s longest active Broward black leader. Hastings, 80, first ran for office in 1970, then was a state and federal judge before winning election to Congress in 1992.
