My Wife

My wife is a very special woman. Like me, she has dedicated her life to the people, but she chose to focus on the end of life. Rebecca earned her degree in Healthcare Administration with a minor in Geriatrics from UCF. In 2009 she was hired to be the Executive Director at Melbourne Terrace Rehab Center. 4 Years later, she decied to go back to school to get her nursing degree. Right before she started school, we learned she was pregnant!

Most people would put school on hold. Not Rebecca. She worked full time, went to school full time, and earned her degree while pregnant. Just after graduation we were rewarded with the most precious gift on the planet. Talk about the best graduation present ever!

Today she serves as the Corporate Compliance Director for her company and is a leader in her field, with contacts all over the state. She is my rock. I lean on her for all the important decisions in my life. She has supported my decision to run for school board.

My Family

I was brought into this world with two sisters. I am a triplet. I often describe my experience growing up as having 3 moms. They were always telling on me! Thankfully my parents had another child 6 years later, and the family evened out with my brother.

Interesting fact: My sisters, my brother and I were the 1st in our family to graduate from college. We all chose the field of teaching! Both of my sisters still teach. My sister Staci teaches at an elementary school in St. John's County, and my sister Lori home schools her daughter.  My brother Mark is an entrepreneur and has his own landscaping company.

Between all of us, we have 6 kids, and they are the closest group of cousins in the world! I just love seeing them all get together.

To this date, all my family still lives in Florida. My sisters, brother, their spouses and children currently live in the Jacksonville area. We all grew up in Western Broward County, in Sunrise, FL. We are all Floridians through and through!

A Multi-Generational Household

I'm proud to say that our home has been a multi-generational home since 2010. Just after we moved to Brevard, my father became ill, and my wife and I opened our home to him. He lived with us for 10 years until he passed in June 2020. 

A couple years ago, my mother moved in. Our daughter was born in 2013, so her entire life has been surrounded by her parents and grandparents. We're so proud that we have been able to provide a stable home for both our child and my parents. It has been a blessing to be able to provide my parents what they provided me growing up. Life is truly full circle.

Perhaps the most special part of this story is just how wonderful my beautiful wife has been. Most spouses would be terrified about having their in-laws live with them. My wife Rebecca is an exception to this norm. She has been an angel, and has welcomed both my parents in with open arms. 

My Story: Why I'm Running for School Board

After graduating college in 1999, I got a job with RH Donnelley, the company that started the Yellow Pages industry. I was hired to sell advertising over the phone. At the time, the Yellow Pages was still an extremely profitable and relevant advertising medium for businesses. Before Google, there was the yellow pages, where people went to when they needed something. The training I received to sell advertising was second to none. The industry was known for providing the best sales training in the country. I thrived quickly, and found myself at the top of my company in sales results after just one year. I had a knack for it. I was great at selling advertising. I was well on my way to a 6 figure sales job where I could have made a really nice living for myself. But, it was not my calling.

Despite the positive trajectory of my career in advertising sales, I had an incredible desire to teach. I wanted to teach economically disadvantaged students. I pursued a teaching career with Teach for America, an organization that places non-education professionals in teaching jobs in high need urban and rural areas. Places like Harlem, Compton, rural Mississippi, and Native American reservations were among several on the list of options. I went through the interview process, made it to the final round, and I was not hired. I was crushed. But, my interviewer gave me great advice. She told me that no matter whether or not I got the job, I belonged in education. She told me to pursue a teaching career, and, so I did. Shortly after I found myself working in my 1st teaching assignment, at a high needs middle school in Lauderhill, FL.

I started in February, following several teachers had quit. 99% of my students qualified for free and reduced lunch. My classroom was in the portables. I had no land line phone. My classroom could have easily been a scene in a movie.

In 4 months I learned the most important lesson as a teacher, and I carry this lesson with me today.  I learned that I would go nowhere by talking at people. I tried to establish authority with my students by demanding respect. None was given. I had not earned their respect yet.  I learned that I need to talk with my students, and not at them. Effective teachers find ways to work with their students. Had I tried any other approach, I would have been the 6th teacher that quit that year. Fortunately for them, and me, I didn't let that happen. It was the best 1st year teaching experience one could ask for. I learned more in 4 months than many teachers learn their whole career. This was also the most important life lesson I learned. I still carry it with me to this day.

Talk with, not at. Show, don't tell. Work with, not against. 

Pictured here is me and 4 of my students during my 1st year in the classroom in 2002.

Since my 1st assignment in 2001-2002, I spent 17 years in public education. I served as a classroom teacher, Magnet School Coordinator and School Administrator. In 2019, I left education and started my own company. The years I spent outside the classroom gave me great perspective in our school system. I  knew I would have a hard time conforming to the status quo. There were so many problems I witnessed with our schools, and I was unwilling to conform to the fall-in-line culture that was pervasive in ed leadership. I am simply not cut that way. I don't fall in line. I work with people so we can start a new line. This is why I started B2K12 Branding Solutions.

For the last 4 years we have paved a way towards forming a great alternative to supplement the funding crises that plagues our school system. The mission and vision of B2K12 is aligned to my commitment to help influence systemic change in public education. Per the last US Census, Advertising was a $154 billion dollar industry. Having experience in advertising sales, I knew that there was great potential for schools to sell advertising. Our schools need money, so this company has served as my way of providing a solution to our funding problem.

In 2020, we were awarded a contract with Brevard Public Schools, and over the last 4 years we have quietly raised nearly $1 million dollars of unrestricted funds. We were awarded our contract just after the COVID-19 pandemic unleashed its fury all over the world. Sadly, the pandemic has had a major impact on our schools in more ways that can be described on this page. Four years later, we are still suffering from its aftermath. We have seen so many changes in staff, leadership, personnel, policies and initiatives. It's been hard to keep up with all the change, and unfortunately, much of this change has not been good.

Our schools are in dire straits financially, as we are losing students at alarming rates. To make matters worse, the nationally divisive political landscape has infiltrated our schools, and has created an ugly system where bickering, name calling and bullying has become the norm. I have personally watched many of school board meetings that have left my eyes and mouth wide open with disgust. The behavior needs to stop. We are better than this.

It has always been within my purview to seek political office one day. This is much earlier than what was in my plans, but I cannot continue to stand by and watch our schools being run in such a contentious way.  Adult leadership should be working together. Our students, teachers, staff, and stakeholders deserve better. There is much to fix, and there is no way we will make progress if we continue to belittle and bully others, and not respect all points of view. This is why I am running. Brevard is desperate for new leadership. The incumbent in district 4 needs to be defeated so progress can be made and public confidence can be restored in our schools.

Let's work together to make Brevard Public Schools great again. I am the most qualified candidate to take on this responsibility, and I am up for the task. Vote Keith Schachter for Brevard Public School Board, District 4. I will bring decorum back to our board and help to restore public confidence. Thank you.