Daniela Simic Has Been Preparing for This Job for Years
When people ask Daniela Simic why she’s running for the Hillsborough County School Board, she struggles to give a short answer.
It’s understandable. Her story begins with a degree in educational policy and leadership from the University of Pennsylvania. She has taught students in Ybor City, supported teachers and school leaders at Middleton High School and Sulphur Springs, and worked to turn around James Elementary when it was one of Florida’s lowest-performing schools. Later, as Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction in Hillsborough County Public Schools, she helped more than 14,000 teachers and staff adapt to teaching during the pandemic.
Simic has also led in the PTA, supported the school millage referendum, mentored at Tampa Bay Boulevard Elementary, and helped families understand decisions affecting their schools. Her son goes to school here. When she explains why she’s running, she often ends up asking herself: after spending her career doing this work, why wouldn’t she run?
Experience That Matches the Job
The Hillsborough County School Board runs one of the largest school systems in the country. It approves big budgets, hires and evaluates the superintendent, sets policies, and makes decisions that affect hundreds of schools, thousands of employees, and over 200,000 students.
Experience matters.
Simic has worked in education for about 25 years. She’s been a classroom teacher, helped struggling schools, held leadership roles at both the state and district levels, and served as Hillsborough’s Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction. In that job, she oversaw more than 200 schools and about 12,000 educators. Reports from the pandemic show how she handled new instructional challenges schools had never faced before.
Of course, not every School Board member has to be a teacher or administrator. Boards are stronger with people from different backgrounds. Still, running a multibillion-dollar school system is one of those rare jobs where understanding how a large school system works is a real qualification.
Simic’s platform focuses on strong academics, investing in classrooms and teachers, keeping schools safe with clear expectations, and setting measurable goals so the district can determine what works and make changes when needed.
A Candidate Who Is Around
Simic first got involved in this community over ten years ago and has spent years working in and around Hillsborough schools.
I’ve seen Daniela at community meetings, political events, education gatherings, and other events around Hillsborough County. She shows up. She talks with people and listens.
Hillsborough has had its share of candidates whose connections to the communities they want to represent appear to have developed conveniently close to qualifying season. Simic does not fit that pattern. Whatever disagreements someone may have with her politics or policies, she has a record here that predates this campaign.
The difference between Simic and Brittany Lyssy stands out. Lyssy has faced public questions about whether she lives in District 2, while Simic’s connection to the community shows in her years of work here. I’ve seen Simic at many events around the county, but I haven’t run into Lyssy, even though I go to similar events. That’s just my experience.
Follow the Contributions
Looking at campaign finance gives us another way to see the difference between the candidates.
As of the latest reports, the two candidates have raised almost the same amount of money from people and organizations other than themselves: about $55,000 for Simic and $54,000 for Lyssy.
But the way each candidate raised their money is very different.
Simic reported 233 contributions from 181 different donors. Lyssy reported 126 contributions from 120 donors. The median donation for Simic was $100, while for Lyssy it was $250.
Almost two-thirds of Simic’s donations were $100 or less. In contrast, about 86 percent of the money Lyssy received from others came in checks of $500 or more.
Both candidates receive PAC money. Lyssy’s contributors include conservative political organizations, candidate committees, business interests, and three Realtor political committees that each wrote $1,000 checks.
Simic’s organizational support includes the Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association, Florida Education Association, IBEW Local 915, Teamsters Local 79, Laborers Local 517, Florida Carpenters, and the Hillsborough Fire Action Committee.
Campaign contributions don’t show how someone will vote, but they do show who supports a candidate enough to give money.
Simic’s fundraising comes mostly from a wide range of individuals, along with support from educators and labor groups. She raised a bit more money from outside donors than Lyssy, but did it through almost twice as many donations. That’s what grassroots fundraising usually looks like.
Who Trusts Her?
The endorsements paint a similar picture.
Most significant for a School Board candidate is the Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association, representing the people who spend every working day inside the district’s classrooms and schools. The union chose Simic in the primary and continues to support her.
She has also earned the backing of the Florida Education Association, Florida Rising, Ruth’s List Florida, Florida NOW, Sierra Club Florida and its Tampa Bay group, the West Central Florida Labor Council, and other labor and community organizations.
These endorsements matter not just as a list of names, but because they come from groups who know her work. Teachers understand what it’s like to work under School Board policies. PTA leaders know what families go through. Labor groups know about managing big workforces and looking out for employees.
A candidate can pay for ads, but trust has to be earned in other ways.
Results Before Rhetoric
District 2 voters already had one opportunity to assess the field. Simic finished first in the August primary with about 39 percent of the vote, ahead of Lyssy at roughly 37 percent, sending the two into the November runoff.
The next election gives voters a clearer choice.
One candidate has spent decades in education, from teaching in classrooms to working in district administration, plus years of PTA advocacy and community involvement. Her fundraising comes from a wide range of individuals, teachers, labor groups, and community organizations.
The other candidate has a background in law and politics and draws strong support from big donors, political committees, and business interests. Those are facts voters can weigh for themselves.
Daniela Simic says there are too many reasons for her candidacy to fit into a single, simple answer. Her résumé shows that years spent in classrooms, schools, district offices, PTA meetings, and community work have all been leading up to this job.
Sources
Daniela Simic campaign website
https://danielaforschools.com/
Daniela Simic campaign statement / transcript provided for this article
Education Week, “As More Schools Resume In-Person Learning, Some Lessons From Districts That Did It First”
https://www.edweek.org/leadership/as-more-schools-resume-in-person-learning-some-lessons-from-districts-that-did-it-first/2020/10
Florida Politics, “Daniela Simic snags Hillsborough County Teachers Association endorsement in District 2”
https://floridapolitics.com/archives/796867-daniela-simic-snags-hillsborough-county-teachers-association-endorsement-in-district-2/
Florida Rising, Endorsements
https://floridarising.org/endorsements/
Hillsborough County Council PTA/PTSA, Advocacy
https://www.hccptaptsa.org/advocacy
Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections / Candidate Campaign Finance Reports
Campaign finance reports for Daniela Simic and Brittany Lyssy, through the latest reporting period reviewed for this article.
