1 min read

Season 5, Episode 111

FEA discusses the May 29 Florida Board of Education Meeting

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Guest Name:


Andrew Spar

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Following Andrew Spar’s most recent appearance on the show, today’s episode of America’s Work Force Union Podcast features portions of a May 29 press conference, where Spar and several leaders within the Florida Education Association discuss funding for public schools and the increasing teacher and staff shortage across the state.  

The FEA hosted the virtual press conference following the State Board of Education meeting to discuss the current state of public education in Florida. Spar, FEA’s president, and several other leaders discussed what steps state leaders could take to address low-average teacher salaries and a critical teacher and staff shortage. Among the leaders on the panel, was Karla Hernandez-Matz, the president of the United Teachers of Dade. She discussed how the Miami-Dade area has been impacted by state regulations and how the UTD is responding to the attacks on teachers. 

A recent NEA report ranked every state and Washington, D.C., in several categories, including average teacher wages. Florida ranked second from the bottom, or 50th in average teacher pay.. During the press conference, Spar discussed potential solutions to improving the average pay, allowing Florida to enhance their ability to retain teachers and decrease the shortage.

During the press conference, the leaders called on state decision makers to listen to teachers and students. Also, included was a brief discussion on Florida House Bill 7, which was previously voted down. Katie Blankenship, executive director of PEN America, discussed the next hurdle with HB 7 and the expected outcome of the upcoming vote on the higher education version of the bill. PEN America is a nonprofit organization focused on defending the freedom of expression for writers, artists and journalists worldwide.

Listen to the show above for more information from the May 29 press conference.


America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

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