Hernando Classroom Teachers' Association

Taking Action for Our Schools, Our Community

Our students and community need strong, vibrant public schools. We know that teachers' voices can make the difference in ensuring that the resources are available to meet every student's individual needs. That's why we are shining a light on the achievements in our classrooms and the work and challenges associated with them. The narrative of Hernando's public schools belongs to all of us, and in order for the truth to be known, we need to be the ones telling our stories!

Fund Our Future, Hernando

As a statewide teacher shortage grows, our professional association is advocating for meaningful changes in state and local policies that directly impact our classrooms. Fund Our Future is an ongoing campaign to recruit and retain teachers, promote student success, and invest in our neighborhood public schools. Here in Hernando County we support local efforts to supplement state and federal funding to ensure competitive wages for educators, expand academic opportunities and increase career paths for students, and to provide the classrooms needed to support a rapidly expanding population. Together, we are proudly speaking up and speaking out for our neighborhood public schools -- and the students educated in them!

Red For Ed Wednesdays

Every Wednesday, HCTA joins teachers across the state of Florida in a visible show of support for our neighborhood public schools. We wear RED for Public Ed because we know all too well the compromises that have to be made --and the impact of those compromises on our students-- when funding for our schools is inadequate or bogged down in mandates. We wear red to call attention to the solvable problems in education. Recruiting and Retaining teachers can't be solved with flawed accountability systems. With 4,961 teacher vacancies in K12 classrooms across Florida at the start of the 2021-2022 school year, ballooning to 6,006 teacher vacancies at the start of 2022-2023, Florida schools aren't failing--FUNDING is FAILING Florida's schools!

Rally to FundOurFuture Commitment Survey

We know that funding our future is going to require a sustained commitment from elected leaders in Tallahassee. If investment in our public schools is not prioritized during this legislative session, we can expect that Florida will continue to remain in the bottom 10 nationwide in public education funding...and it will be our students who will suffer the continuing impacts of a growing teacher shortage. This January, we need to ensure that all eyes in Tallahassee are on Funding Our Future!

Governor Pitches $47,500 Minimum for Teacher Pay

October 7, 2019 - Governor DeSantis Pitches Increase to Teacher Pay - From a schedule press conference in Jacksonville, the Governor released a plan to raise the minimum teacher salary in the state of Florida to $47,500 – impacting a little more than half of all of teachers in the state. Paired with the introduction of legislation by Sen. Rob Bradley to repeal the flawed Best and Brightest bonus scheme, the governor's announcement could be seen as evidence that the voices of FEA members and public education advocates are actually being heard.

Inquiring Minds Want to Know

10 Questions to ask about the Governor’s Teacher Salary Proposal

For the past several months, FEA, our locals and our members have been bombarding media and elected officials with information about Florida’s national ranking in average teacher salary and that nearly 50,000 Educational Staff Professionals earn a poverty wage.

Clearly at least ONE politician is paying attention.

FundOurFuture Bus Tour is Coming to Hernando!

See you at a bus stop!

Starting Oct. 21, FEA officers and staff will roll out on a statewide, five-week bus tour for public education. We will be on a campaign for our students, public schools and YOU. Please plan to come out and meet us at a stop.

The idea is to focus attention on public schools and build community support well before January, when the Legislature will be making decisions that affect all of us. If we are going to win in the next session, we need to be seen and heard now.

The stakes are very high. We are fighting for improved funding for public schools and for better pay for all school employees. We want an end to the over-testing of students and a halt to the expansion of voucher programs that divert public money to private schools. We demand that this state support the schools that educate 90 percent of our students, and that lawmakers show proper respect to the people who devote their lives to Florida’s children.

In coordination with local unions, the Fund Our Future bus tour will make about 50 stops at events and schools from Pensacola to the Florida Keys. The first stop will be on Oct. 21 in the Panhandle, and the tour comes to a close on Nov. 23 in Orlando.

The Hernando stop is slated for the afternoon of November 1st! More details are coming. Be sure to save the date!

The VAM Scam

September 18, 2019 - FEA's second article in their series exposing how Florida policies are undermining student success focuses on the scam that is VAM. Since its introduction into teacher evaluation processes, educators across the nation have protested the use of this flawed measure to identify ineffective teachers and brand schools as 'failing'.

August 26, 2019

Over the next few months this multi-part series will take a deep dive into the ways that Florida’s education policies have led to a full-scale crisis in the teaching profession.