Teachers across Florida are rallying today-a day before the new legislative session begins.
They’re calling on lawmakers to put more funding into public schools.
Volusia United Educators' President Elizabeth Albert says her union is also encouraging parents and students to write their lawmakers.
"Like us, there will be counties who rally. I know that we are hosting a letter writing event here. So they can come in and we can collaborate on how to reach out to our legislators."
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Albert says the rallies are being coordinated by the Florida Education Association at a moment when public schools face a historic teacher shortage.
"We've seen a drain from money that was previously given to public schools now going to private schools and charters. We know that there are scholarships that are being created to take money that was usually or historically sent to public schools and now give it to religious schools.
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The FEA says there were more than 4,000 vacancies that needed to be filled at public schools in Florida this school year.
The rally comes a month after Governor Ron DeSantis asked the legislature to allocate more state funding for scholarships to that would allow students to attend private or charter schools instead of their local public school.
