1 min read

Season 6, Episode 23

Florida's Education Crisis: A Call for Action and Reform

FEA

 

Guest Name:


Andrew Spar

Guest Website:


Florida Education Association 

Guest Social Media:


Facebook

Twitter

YouTube

Supportive Documents:


Florida Education Association President Andrew Spar joined the America's Workforce Union Podcast to discuss the challenges teachers and students face with the state’s current education system and how labor can make a difference.

With 150,000 members, the FEA advocates for better funding, improved working conditions and equitable policies for educators across the state.

Spar highlighted the severe teacher shortage in Florida, exemplified by Polk County's reliance on 614 substitute teachers to fill vacancies. According to Spar, this shortage is a direct result of inadequate pay and a lack of respect for the teaching profession, leading to a decline in educational quality.

In Spar’s opinion, Florida needs additional investment in public schools to improve the state’s education system. Spar proposed an additional $1,000 per student to elevate Florida from near the bottom to the top 10 in national education funding. This investment would not only improve teacher salaries but also provide additional staffing resources like school counselors and psychologists.

The diversion of Public Educational Capital Outlay (PECO) funds to charter schools has left public schools struggling to maintain a safe and healthy environment. Spar criticized this practice, noting that charter schools— often privately owned— receive more funding than public schools, despite serving fewer students. To combat these issues, Spar advocates for: legislative reform, redirecting funds and building a relationship between educators, parents and lawmakers. 

Listen to the full episode above for more on the FEA's efforts to improve Florida's education system.


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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