Florida has the fourth largest economy in the United States. In fact, if Florida were a country, it would rank in the top 15 countries in the world for total economy. In spite of Florida’s tremendous wealth, many of the people who make Florida run simply can’t afford to live in the communities where they work. Average pay for teachers ranks #50 in the nation, and the pay for education staff professionals and higher education faculty often falls far short of a living wage.
When this article ran in the print edition, eight locals had held an election to recertify as a result of SB 256 and each of those locals won their election with an average vote of 95% of educators voting for their union. Since then, members of 14 more local unions have said "I'm sticking with my union" loudly and proudly by voting to recertify their local.
Overcoming Obstacles
Too many of Florida’s elected officials and their corporate donors, however, look at this situation and see a different “problem”: our unions and union members like you. They know that if they can get rid of unions, they will be able to get rid of the loudest voice in the state that stands up and demands fair pay and treatment for working people. In turn, this will allow them to achieve their ultimate goal of keeping even more resources for themselves while ignoring the needs of everyday Floridians. That is why over the past six years, Florida politicians have enacted three different bills explicitly aimed at taking away educators’ collective voices through their unions.
First was 2018’s HB 7055 which required 50% union density for public sector unions comprised of instructional personnel. Every impacted FEA local rose to the occasion and met the 50% density mark. This led to 2023’s SB 256 that upped the mark to 60% and expanded the scope of the bill to include all public sector unions — except those representing law enforcement and firefighters — while also eliminating payroll deduction of union dues.
Again, FEA locals overcame the obstacles placed in their way. So, legislators changed the rules yet again this legislative session with SB 1746 that requires each member to fill out a state-mandated “membership authorization form” in order to be counted toward the goal of 60% density.
One thing is clear in the persistence of anti-public education politicians: they do not want you to keep fighting for your students or each other. Yet our locals are once again, rising to meet the challenge through their hard work and dedication. In fact, many FEA locals are not just surviving these attacks but are thriving in the face of them.
Recently, we interviewed presidents in three locals to get their insight on what it takes to be a thriving union in the face of unprecedented legislative attacks.
You’ve Got to Have a Good Team Around You
When Gov. DeSantis signed SB 1746 on March 22, 2024, the bill took effect immediately. For the Martin County Education Association (MCEA) that meant there was a limited window of opportunity to get members to sign the newly created membership authorization form required by the law. Within 10 days, more than 98% of MCEA members jumped through this newly created hoop and signed and returned their form.
As Matt Theobald, a government and economics teacher and president of MCEA put it, “The idea of wanting to take away teachers’ voices really spurred a lot of people into action…they get that the redundancy and the extra work was designed to be burdensome. We’re not stupid.”
The groundwork for this success was built over the whole school year and was representative of the collective bargaining campaign MCEA implemented to ensure fair raises for all teachers.
One key to that successful campaign was constant communication. In MCEA, this took many of the usual forms such as newsletters, a bargaining survey and putting together bargaining organizing action teams— but it did not stop there. MCEA hosted monthly “teacher takeover” social events, had sounding boards which helped to facilitate one-on-one conversations, and even engaged the public through the local press and by working with community groups. Not only were MCEA members showing up at contract negotiations and demanding fair pay for themselves, community members who support public education also made their presence felt during negotiations and at school board meetings.
Together, these activities created an “[atmosphere in our local] that was more inclusive and gave people the opportunity to be involved,” says Theobald. “Because there were so many people involved there was a buzz and that’s what really ended up shifting the [school] board.”
When MCEA settled their contract, they were able to obtain $500,000 more than the school district’s initial salary offer. As importantly, the bulk of the money went toward increasing pay for experienced teachers who received up to a 6% raise to help combat salary compression that results from elected officials dedicating funds to almost exclusively raise salaries for new teachers.
Whether it comes to collecting paperwork to meet newly imposed burdens or getting teachers and the community to show solidarity by showing up to pressure the school board, Theobald is quick to give credit to the many people including executive board members and building representatives whose help was instrumental in these wins: “How do I get a week’s worth of work done in a day and a half? The answer is you’ve got to have a good team around you. It’s as simple as that.”
You Can’t Spell Respect without ESP
For a little more than a decade now, April Rose-McCoy has served the students of Forest High School in Ocala as a special needs paraprofessional. Currently, she also serves as president of the Marion Education Support Professionals (MESP) which represents more than 1,000 non-instructional school employees across three dozen job classifications.
Now more than ever, she knows that for her members and potential members alike it is important they “see we are doing something; we’re not just here and taking a seat. We are trying to fight for better working conditions for them.” For Rose-McCoy, this starts by making sure the superintendent and school board members truly understand what education staff professionals do.
When Rose-McCoy spoke during the public input portion of the Marion County School Board meeting on February 27, her ask was clear: “Walk in our shoes. As you visit the schools, spend some time with our ESPs and shadow them as they provide the services our kids and schools need every day… remember, you can’t spell respect without ESP!”
Members of the school board responded with kind words of appreciation for the work of the education staff professionals who keep Marion County Public Schools running, but words were not enough for Rose-McCoy— she was seeking action. “You say you appreciate what we do, but do you even know what we do,” she wondered.
Determined to spur school board members into action, Rose-McCoy reached out to FEA for assistance with an email campaign and in short order, an online form was created that would allow MESP members to email the superintendent and school board members with just one click. The response from the district was almost immediate, catching even Rose-McCoy by surprise.
About an hour after the email campaign went live, the superintendent reached out to union leadership to tell them, “I’m pretty sure you know we’ve gotten a lot of emails. Just give us the date, the time and where we need to go.”
Rose-McCoy got to work scheduling opportunities for the higher-ups at the district level to spend a day with education staff professionals. Again, there was an immediate impact.
As school board members saw the workload faced by MESP members, they acknowledged a need for better pay and updated job descriptions. Reaction from MESP members and potential members was swift as well.
“It did spark something,” said Rose-McCoy. There has been increased engagement from MESP members and more questions from potential members looking to join. For members of the school community who have felt overlooked for so long, having the school board and superintendent take an interest in their jobs has made a real difference.
Heartened by the success, MESP is planning to make this an annual event to take place during ESP Week. When asked for any words of advice for a local union who might be interested in having their own “walk in our shoes” events Rose-McCoy says, “Don’t be afraid to shake things up. We need to be in the community and we need to be seen.”
It’s All About Relationships
The lawmakers and special interest groups who seek to undermine unions and public education know that the most powerful weapon in their arsenal is division. They attempt to drive a wedge between those who care about Florida’s children and public schools and distract from the real issues our state faces.
In Florida’s Panhandle, the Walton County Education Association (WCEA) is showing what happens when division is rejected in favor of focusing on shared values of providing the best education possible to every child — no exceptions.
Kelley Stephenson teaches English language learners at Walton County High School and serves as president of WCEA. In talking about the relationships she maintains with her superintendent she says, “Monthly we sit at the same table and we have the same goals. We don’t always agree, but we walk away knowing what we talked about is going to better teachers, students and the district.”
It wasn’t always this way, though. Earlier in Stephenson’s tenure in Walton County she recalls things “were contentious. It was horrible. [I thought] ‘it has to be better than this.’” To turn this around Stephenson has made building relationships a priority. She focused on building relationships within WCEA, building relationships with the superintendent and human resources and building relationships with FEA.
Along with these stronger relationships has come positive change. Walton County has a starting salary of $55,000. Beyond ensuring a living wage, WCEA takes their role as the collective voice of Walton County teachers seriously. As Stephenson puts it “Our teachers know they have a voice in this county…They are going to be heard, and they are going to be validated.” This is why in spite of all of the legislation aimed at weakening teacher unions, WCEA didn’t just exceed the 60% membership threshold required by law, they currently have their highest membership ever.
The growth in WCEA is a testament to what happens when local unions reject attempts at division and instead work on bringing all stakeholders together with a common vision to meet the needs of educators and students. When asked why WCEA has been so successful, Stephenson’s answer is not at all surprising: “(The) number one (reason) is relationships.”
Our Unions are Growing Stronger
We know the legislative attacks are not done, but we will continue to use every attack on our unions as inspiration to grow stronger.
As these three locals — and countless others around the state — have demonstrated we will never back down, and we will never give up. The day is coming when Florida’s educators will have the pay, respect and resources they deserve, and when that day arrives it will be because our unions make us strong!
