We’re excited to kick off our year long #RedforED advocacy campaign to support educators and raise awareness of the statewide teacher shortage!
According to the Florida Education Association, as of January 2018 there were teacher 1,482 vacancies across the State of Florida. This represents approximately 137,000 students without a regular classroom teacher at the time. At the same time, enrollment in colleges of education across the country has declined significantly in recent years. This trend is expected to continue in the coming years.
The problem is not unique to Alachua County, and in fact we have one of the lowest shortages in the state. The problem stems from legislation and other top-down mandates that originate at the state level. Our district and School Board are communicating with decision-makers within the state to address the issue, but we need help from the community to raise our voices!
We are asking the Alachua County community to wear red on the first Monday of every month, to show support for educators. In addition to that, we will be posting a series of blogs to help raise awareness of the growing teacher shortage within our state, with calls to action.
#REDforED T-shirts will be available at our General Meetings and other events. Online orders can be placed here, and will be delivered to your school.
A teacher’s work environment is a child’s learning environment, and we can’t have successful schools without supporting our teachers!
8 ways to keep teachers in Florida (compiled from teacher surveys, conducted by the Florida Education Association).
