The Florida Education Association (FEA) welcomes a recent Division of Administrative Hearings (DOAH) ruling, which strongly upholds Florida educators’ fundamental right to due process.
In 2025, Lauren Watts, an Alachua County educator, was placed on administrative leave after a parent alleged bullying during a State Board of Education meeting. The following day, then-Florida Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas filed an administrative complaint without conducting the statutorily required investigation or giving Ms. Watts her statutorily required opportunity to respond, saying he would “take every necessary action to ensure this teacher never teaches again. On October 15, the DOAH dismissed one of the Commissioner’s allegations and instead recommended only a written reprimand.
In her recommendation, Administrative Law Judge Yolonda Green stated, “Since Ms. Watts continued to teach and maintained a highly effective record, suspension and removal from the classroom are unnecessary.”
“This ruling sends a clear message: Florida’s educators have a right to due process,” said Florida Education Association President Andrew Spar. “But what happened to Ms. Watts goes beyond due process. The Commissioner made an unsubstantiated claim that Ms. Watts intentionally targeted a student for their political views, rallying the public against her before the facts were established. Later, as FEA’s legal counsel became involved, they successfully forced the Florida Department of Education to withdraw the allegation because there was no evidence, and ultimately secured a successful outcome at the administrative hearing, which found that Ms. Watts did not intentionally commit any misconduct or target this student in particular. Yet she was left to endure ongoing harassment from people who had been misled. When allegations arise, educators—like anyone else—deserve a fair investigation and an opportunity to respond. Our unions will always defend every teacher’s rights across Florida and ensure due process for all. Rather than targeting educators online or subjecting them to the court of public opinion, state leaders should focus on strengthening public schools and fostering environments where every student can pursue their dreams.”
“When we stand united, we ensure that educators are protected from attacks by state leaders who would rather target teachers than uplift public schools and the dedicated professionals within them,” said Crystal Tessmann, President of the Alachua County Education Association (ACEA). “ACEA will always safeguard the professional dignity and due process rights of educators, and will work tirelessly to build stronger public schools for our students and communities.”
###
CONTACT: FEA Press, feapress@floridaea.org, (850) 201-3223
The Florida Education Association is the state’s largest association of professional employees, with 120,000 members. FEA represents PreK-12 teachers, higher education faculty, educational staff professionals, students at our colleges and universities preparing to become teachers and retired education employees.
