This post was written as an editorial in response to the public education rally held by the Florida Education Association on Monday, January 13, 2020. Some parts are borrowed from an earlier blog post. I’ve added some further reading and additional resources at the bottom.
On Monday, January 13, educators from around the state rallied in support of fully funded public education at the capitol. For some, such direct political action on the part of teachers may seem inappropriate. And yet, it is necessary.
As much as some would like to deny it, teaching is a political profession. As professionals, our day-to-day lives - and those of our students - are shaped by legislation. For the last decade, legislative action in Tallahassee has been the source of one attack after another, draining resources from school districts and creating instability in teachers’ and students’ lives.
One of the earliest attacks came in 2010 with Senate Bill 6, which promised to increase the role of high-stakes testing in classrooms and end due process for teachers, giving all teachers annual contracts instead. While Senate Bill 6 was ultimately vetoed, the same provisions were brought forth again in 2011, passing into law in the form of Senate Bill 736. Since then, teachers have had no sense of stability, left to wonder whether they will be non-reappointed without cause at the end of the school year.
The attack on public education in Florida has been picking up steam at a remarkable pace in the short time I've been here. In the 2017 legislative session we saw a $418 million dollar education bill that was widely opposed by education stakeholders. Superintendent and principal organizations opposed it, as did parent groups around the state. Among the notable provisions, House Bill 7069 made changes in state laws to allow private charter school companies to use tax dollars earmarked for (public) school improvement. The kicker? The charter companies retain ownership of the newly renovated or constructed real estate - even if they close up shop.
The 2018 legislative session brought House Bill 7055, which included still more money for charter and voucher schools, as well as a provision that will revoke the certification of any teacher union should membership fall below 50% (though not other public-sector unions, such as police or firefighters). The same session also resulted in the passage of Senate Bill 7026 (the "school safety bill"), which included the controversial school marshal plan. For districts whose communities were opposed to arming teachers (like Leon County), this bill created hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional costs through unfunded mandates.
Each of these provisions has limited the amount of money available to be spent on school resources and supplies or teacher compensation, while politicians seek praise for passing ever-larger education budgets.
In the wake of this years-long attack on public education, teachers have been left well behind their professional peers across the country. Beyond the immediate local economic effects of stagnant wages and additional stress caused by the need to work second (or third) jobs to support a family as so many of my colleagues do, another long-term problem has emerged: we can’t get teachers to stay.
Each year, it gets harder for teachers to justify staying in Florida with the knowledge that, almost anywhere in the country, they could be making more. For me, a return to my hometown in Michigan would mean a raise of over $15,000 a year with very little change in my cost of living. Students feel the brunt of this trend. Florida started the year with 3,500 vacancies affecting 300,000 students, creating instability and a lack of consistency in schools and districts around the state.
A rally, however, is not the end of our political work. We will continue to advocate for public education throughout this legislative session. We hope those parents, students, and community members that joined us on the Capitol steps and supported us from afar will join us.
For additional background information, and specific remedies already proposed by the Florida Education Association, I recommend reading this five part series on Florida education policy from FEA.
You can also follow what’s going on and how to get involved during the 2020 legislative session in Florida here.