Children deserve classrooms that prepare them for the future. That means investing in the people who teach them. Instead, Tallahassee has spent years undermining public education: expanding voucher programs without requiring the same accountability expected of public schools, passing legislation to gut teacher and faculty unions, and making it harder for districts to attract and retain qualified educators.

This isn’t just an education issue. It’s an economic one. Families choose where to live based on school quality. Businesses invest in communities with strong workforces. When we tear down the people who teach our kids, we’re tearing down the economic foundation of our community.

The Teacher Pay Crisis
Florida ranks 50th out of 50 states and D.C. in average teacher salary, according to the NEA’s 2023–24 Rankings and Estimates report. The state’s average of $54,875 falls far below the national average of $72,030. That’s a teacher shortage recipe—and it’s already showing up across the state in growing vacancies and rising reliance on long-term substitutes.
The legislature supported bills weakening teacher unions and expanding voucher programs with no accountability, while per-pupil funding has failed to keep pace with the rising cost of living. Taxpayers send their dollars to Tallahassee and get shortchanged in return.

Vouchers & School Funding
When a student leaves public school for a voucher, the funding leaves too. If that student returns mid-year, the money does not come back. The money follows the student out of public school, but it doesn’t follow them back. The same problem exists with charter schools: when a child leaves a charter and returns to their neighborhood public school, the funding stays behind. Every school that receives public dollars—public, charter, or private—should be held to the same standard of accountability. And when students return to public school, the funding should follow them back. Some teachers suggest: distribute per-student funding on a monthly basis rather than as a lump sum. That way, when a student moves between schools, the dollars follow them in real time.

Schools of Hope
Florida’s “Schools of Hope” law allows state-approved charter operators to move into communities without local approval—even when public schools are already overcrowded. These charters can use public school buildings. The result: undermined local planning, destabilized budgets, and weakened community schools. Local communities should have a say in what happens in their neighborhoods.

Book Bans & Censorship
Parents already have control over their children’s reading. From the first day of school, parents can opt their child out of checking out library books. What we don’t need is one community member—often not even a parent—deciding for everyone else’s children what they can read. That’s not parental rights; that’s censorship.
Worse, only people trying to ban books can appeal a decision. Parents who want books to remain have no appeal rights at all. That’s a system designed for censorship, not for families.

Honest History
Florida is pushing ideological materials like PragerU into classrooms to rewrite and whitewash history. These materials are not academically vetted. Students deserve fact-based education, not propaganda. Our classrooms should be focused on learning—not culture-war disruption.

School Safety
Real school safety means counselors, mental health support, nurses, and stable learning environments. When students feel supported, schools are safer and learning improves. Safety isn’t just about security measures—it’s about giving every child the support they need to thrive.

Suzanna’s Plan
Treat students as an investment, not an expense. Suzanna will fight to:
Fund neighborhood public schools first. Require the same transparency and accountability for every school that receives taxpayer dollars—public, private, or charter.
Invest in competitive teacher pay and reasonable class sizes to recruit and retain great educators.
Demand transparency and accountability for every public dollar spent on education—whether it goes to a public school or a voucher program.
Ensure responsible charter expansion that does not drain resources from public schools.
Restore local control over school decisions and library policies.
Require academic vetting of all classroom materials. Remove politically driven content like PragerU.
Invest in school safety through counselors, mental health support, and stable learning environments.

The result: A stronger workforce, stronger communities, and better outcomes for every child in Florida.