Enter your contact information below and press submit to sign the petition letting incoming Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz, Jr. know his first course of action must be to take concrete steps to end the teacher shortage.
Full text of the petition can be found under the contact information.
Petition to Commissioner Diaz
From Key West to Pensacola and everywhere between, almost everyone in Florida agrees our public schools should be the strongest in the nation. For far too long, certain politicians have underfunded students while restricting educators’ freedom to teach. As a result, Florida is facing a shortage of 9,000 teachers heading into the 2022-23 school year.
We know there is better way. As educators and parents, we share a core belief that every child deserves a world-class education and is capable of excelling, no matter their race, income, disability status.
To make sure every student in Florida has professionally trained and, experienced teachers in all subject areas from kindergarten through high school, we call on Commissioner Manny Diaz to prioritize addressing the teacher shortage. At a minimum he must work with stakeholders to develop a plan to accomplish the following:
- Hire well prepared teachers, provide them the resources they need and time to plan and work together.
- Increase Florida’s teacher salaries to the national average.
- Dedicate time and resources to support early career teachers as they grow into the profession.
- Provide stability by allowing teachers who have demonstrated their effectiveness to earn multi-year contracts.
Encourage districts to find ways to use teachers in leadership and mentoring roles with- out requiring that they leave the classroom.
