Danny McAuliffe
The two Democratic state lawmakers who tried but failed to reconvene the Legislature to increase education funding now are planning a rally for teachers in South Florida.
Rep. Shevrin Jones, a West Park Democrat, and Miami Democratic Rep. Nicholas Duran announced Tuesday that they’re putting together the “Red For Education Teacher Rally.” It will be held on August 19, the Sunday before the first day of the 2018-2019 school year in Miami-Dade County. It will take place in Miami Gardens.
Joining the two South Florida lawmakers are state Senate Minority Leader Oscar Braynon and Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver Gilbert. Other area officials are expected to attend.
In a prepared statement, Duran emphasized the importance of giving teachers and other parties a chance to congregate and demand action.
“In our fight to improve Florida’s education system, it is essential that we provide a venue where teachers, students, parents, and the rest of the community can gather together to request better efforts to ensure our public schools are equipped with the adequate resources to provide high quality education for all our children,” Duran said.
Citing what many education officials and Democratic lawmakers believe to be inadequate funding for the upcoming school year, Jones called for action.
“Our schools are being starved out by these poorly thought out mandates and dangerous funding levels. We will not continue to tolerate this blatant disregard for the growing needs of Florida’s schools,” Jones said.
Duran and Jones led a push in May to bring legislators back to Tallahassee to reexamine what they claimed to be a funding shortage for schools created by the Marjory Stoneman High School Public Safety Act, which mandates additional costs to schools and prevents districts from tapping into money reserved for an on-campus armed guardian program, should they choose not to participate.
But the lawmakers’ attempt failed. They were unable to obtain the needed support — three-fifths of the Republican-led Legislature — to reconvene both chambers.
Red is a common theme for teacher-related causes. In 2017, teachers across the country wore red in protest of U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.
