Area teachers gathered at the Florida Education Association office in downtown Tallahassee on Saturday. They were sharing their concerns about state education policy with union leaders and Democratic Lieutenant Governor Candidate Gwen Graham.
Teacher complaints ranged from ever-changing-standards and course requirements to lax attendance policies. Leon Classroom Teachers President Scott Mazur said the state seemed more concerned with culture war issues than the real problems facing real families, such as:
"Supporting parents so that their ability to buy affordable housing, groceries and health care so that the kids come to school ready to learn."
Gwen Graham, the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor, said if elected she'll form an advisory panel of teachers and other education experts to fix the problems.
"What our commitment is is to bring subject matter experts together in this case to know what we should and need to be doing to restore public education in the state of Florida."
Republican Nominee for Governor Byron Donalds was in Tallahassee last week. He met with students on the campus of Florida A&M University.
