Teachers launching video campaign on legislation affecting students

The pandemic has caused many challenges for teachers.

A new campaign launching this weekend asks lawmakers to shift their focus to what’s best for students and teachers.

For Lee County teacher Latonya Starks, the last year has been rough.

“I feel like I’m being a teacher and a custodian and crying at night because I feel like I failed because my kids still got sick,” Starks said.

COVID-19 presented teachers and students with a new kind of curriculum and now teachers hope the next school year will be accounted for in the state legislature. This weekend teachers are launching a new campaign to help with these challenges as they’ll come up in the legislature.

“I really, really am looking forward to seeing some legislation that impacts our students in a positive way with the amount that our students have been out,” Starks said. “I can’t imagine seeing them sit down to take the FSA.”

The Florida Standardized Assessment Test is a requirement for a third grader to move into the fourth grade.

Senate bill 886 would lower the stakes for the FSA, meaning teachers can focus on students instead of just teaching to a test. The new legislation would allow students to move into the fourth grade without having to pass the exam.

“This year, it just seems to make more sense to focus on the kids and not on the testing,” said Andrew Sparr, president of the Florida Education Association.

Two other House bills focus on teachers and are the subject of a new video campaign launched by the FEA.

Teachers are concerned by House bill 835 and House bill 947 which they say would limit the freedom of teachers.

“The bills we are concerned about are directly limitations on freedoms for our teachers and staff in terms of being able to come together and freely speak up for kids and what’s going on in our schools,” Sparr said. “That is not what lawmakers should be focused on.”

Other legislation teachers are fighting deals with pay equity. They say many school employees are left out and they want to handle this at the local level.