Tina Descovich

As a matter of fact, we were making learning gains, which you just don't hear of in public education anymore.

We were making learning gains in the lowest performing schools in the poorest areas.

I was so proud of the work we were doing, but I was so naive.

I thought if I did the right thing, if I made the right choices, and I spoke truth, everybody would like me, and I would win my reelection, and I could just keep doing this great job.

I was so wrong.

I learned it first shortly after I was elected during the Marjory Stoneman Douglas massacre.

It was just two counties south of me, and I was a current school board member.

I was so concerned about making sure what happened there didn't happen to the 75,000 students that I was responsible for.

I studied every second of what happened in that massacre.

I learned where every break, every fault was, every decision that was made, every policy that led to that happening, and I wanted to be sure it didn't happen in our district.

I started speaking out about these things, trying to have civil conversations with my community.

And you know what I was met with?

Protests.

Thousands and thousands of people started attacking me online.

This is the first time I'd ever experienced that.

I held a town hall thinking if I could just talk to the people, if I could just talk to my community and explain all that I know now and let them know what we need to do here.

They showed up in the thousands to protest me.

Kids laying on the ground pouring ketchup on their body.

You're going to kill us.

You don't care about us.