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Teachers To Rally In Orlando For Public Education Funding

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Educators from Central Florida to Tampa Bay are planning a rally at Lake Eola Park in Orlando Saturday to call for more funding for public schools. 

The rally in Orlando follows the Florida Education Association’s rally in Tallahassee last month. 

Student FEA member Kaitlyn Montcrieff is a graduate student at the University of Central Florida and a substitute teacher. 

She’s worried about class sizes, lack of leeway for lesson planning and resources. 

“We kind of run like an old car," said Montcrieff.

"We just fix enough to keep us going, and even if the ‘maintenance needed’ light is blinking we’re like, ‘oh well, at least I changed the oil, I did something, even if it’s not this problem.” It’s still moving forward, I just feel like no teacher is satisfied with how slow we’re walking.”

Montcrieff said she wants lawmakers to pay attention to teachers’ needs and put more funding into smaller class sizes, increasing teacher pay and filling the teacher shortage. 

Governor Ron DeSantis has called for boosting pay for beginning teachers, but the FEA wants raises for all teachers.