EDUCATOR · COMMUNITY LEADER · WOMAN OF FAITH

Linda Cothiere

for Miami-Dade School Board · District 1

Linda On Board!

Children First, Parental Collaboration Always!

More than a decade in the classroom. A lifetime in this community.

Lekòl nou. Timoun nou. — Our schools. Our kids.

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Linda Cothiere — educator and candidate for Miami-Dade School Board District 1 Team Linda

Our Story

Raised in Carol City. Rooted in District 1.

Linda Cothiere grew up in Carol City and graduated from Miami Carol City Senior High — a home-grown daughter of District 1. A proud product of Miami-Dade public schools, she earned her associate degree at Miami Dade College and her bachelor's in education at St. Thomas University, then gave her career back to the community that raised her — building adult-education programs that move our neighbors into real careers.

She is a certified mediator. She is a Deaconess at Good News Church of North Miami — school-supply drives, food distributions, Thanksgiving turkeys, holiday toys. And for the past five years she has talked with South Florida every week, co-hosting The Reyni Talk Show on 1360 AM and reaching families across the region on Island TV.

At home, education is the family business: her husband, Wallace Aristide, served Miami-Dade schools for more than 30 years — over a decade of them as principal of Miami Northwestern Senior High.

30+ years of public-school experience in the family she's part of.
A classroom teacher who has been inside our schools — never watching from outside.
Access in English, Kreyòl and Español for every family.
"Each one, reach one. Each one, teach one. Until all are taught!"
— Linda

Our Promise

Children First, Parental Collaboration Always!

The Platform

Four pillars. One classroom focus.

Empower teachers in the classroom

"Teachers know their students best."

Cut the bureaucratic overload and give educators the tools, autonomy, and professional trust they have earned — so their time goes to students, not paperwork.

Safe & modern campuses

"You can't learn where you don't feel safe."

Security infrastructure, modernized facilities, and updated classroom technology — every campus in District 1 safe, cool, and 21st-century ready.

Parents as partners

"Education is a team sport."

Parents are a child's first educators — informed, included, and at the table before decisions are made, with real access in every family's language.

English Kreyòl Español

Pay & keep great teachers

"When teachers win, students win."

Florida ranks last in the nation for teacher pay, and we lose ours to the next county. Direct local dollars to competitive pay and real retention — the smartest investment we can make.

In Detail

What that looks like on the board

A School Board member sets policy, adopts a $7.4 billion budget, hires and holds the Superintendent accountable, approves contracts, sets the salary schedule, draws attendance boundaries, and decides when schools open or close. Here is how Linda will use that authority — and where she will fight in Tallahassee for what the state controls.

1 · Empower teachers

  • Audit district-mandated paperwork and cut duplicative reporting so teachers teach, not document.
  • Protect classroom autonomy and professional judgment within state standards.
  • Seat working District 1 teachers on the advisory committees that shape curriculum and scheduling.

2 · Safe & modern campuses

  • Verify every District 1 school meets Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas safety law — a safe-school officer, single point of entry, and an Alyssa's Law panic alarm in every building.
  • Demand a District 1 accounting of the 2012 $1.2 billion school bond — continuing the audit the seat's own former member called for — so we know our buildings, A/C, and technology got their fair share.
  • Prioritize cooling, repairs, and updated classroom technology in the capital plan.

3 · Parents as partners

  • Require genuine parent notice and input before any District 1 school is closed, consolidated, or rezoned — not after the vote.
  • Strengthen communication in every family's language — English, Kreyòl, and Español — through the Parent Portal and Parent Academy.
  • Publish plain-language budget and school-performance updates families can actually read.

4 · Pay & keep great teachers

  • Protect and prioritize the voter-approved teacher-salary referendum — up for renewal on this term — toward competitive pay and retention.
  • Close the pay and working-condition gap with neighboring counties so we stop losing great teachers.
  • Fight in Tallahassee for a real state investment in teacher salaries — Florida currently ranks 50th in the nation.

Our District

One seat. Four communities.

District 1 stretches across Miami Gardens, Opa-locka, North Miami and North Miami Beach. One board seat speaks for all of them — and every family in them deserves a champion who shows up. Together, these neighborhoods are part of Miami-Dade County Public Schools — one of the nation's largest, A-rated districts.

0K+
Students
in Miami-Dade schools
0+
Public schools
right here in District 1
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Communities
one shared standard
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Languages
EN · Kreyòl · ES
· Miami Gardens · Opa-locka · North Miami · North Miami Beach

Join Team Linda

Every school. Every child. Every neighborhood.

I'd like to help with…

P.S. — Yard sign? We'll bring one. 🪧

Welcome to Team Linda!

Thank you for stepping up. Someone from our neighborhood team will reach out soon — and yes, we'll bring that yard sign.

Stay Close

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One short, honest update a week — what we saw at the doors, what's next, and how you can help. No noise.

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Look for Linda's first Saturday note this weekend.