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TAKE ACTION: 2022 GENERAL ELECTION

CALLING ALL PUBLIC ED ADVOTECATES-- Public Education is on the ballot! From our local school board seats to very top of the ticket, we know that folks who set policy and make laws will be impacting our classrooms and shaping the future of our profession. We're building a Political Action Team and the success of our 2022 election advocacy efforts will depend entirely upon the contributions of members like you.

CLICK HERE TO VOLUNTEER FOR ANY OF THE FOLLOWING ACTIONS

Door-to-Door Canvassing & Lit Drop 

Work in pairs or teams of three to visit HCTA members who are registered to vote in Hernando County and share information about our endorsed candidates.

Sign Waving (at various locations during Early Voting)

We'll create visibility and show our support for our endorsed candidates with some good old-fashioned sign waving! Final calendar of dates to be determined by volunteer availability.

Social Media Megaphone

Are you social media savvy? Participate in a social media advocacy training, then help amplify the reach of our advocacy on social media platforms by following, liking, commenting, sharing, reposting and tagging others in HCTA's Get Out the Vote messaging.

My Circle of Influence (today, tomorrow, and every day until the election!)

Of course, the easiest and most important action you can take in support of our endorsed candidates is to SPREAD THE WORD! Talk to your friends, family, colleagues, neighbors--anyone in your circle of influence! Our teachers, students and community need school board members who aren’t driven by politics, but who are driven by their proven commitment to thriving public schools!

HCTA Calls for Members to Check Voter Registration Status

With this election, important decisions will be made about whether our school board will continue to be a vital force in building up our community, where students feel safe and welcome and where the experience and voice of educators is valued─ or whether it’s a place where politics take priority in the decisions that impact our classrooms.

The HCTA Local Elections Endorsement Committee, comprised of rank-and-file members of HCTA representing a clear balance of political views, made every effort to weigh their recommendations on the values, interests, and expressed priorities of our members. Please take time to learn more about those who have been endorsed by HCTA. We need leaders who will work to bring all stakeholders together for the benefit of our students.

Also, please take steps now to secure your opportunity to vote in this election!

Your first step in being an engaged voter is to verify your voter registration status. Politicians have been making changes to our election laws, so it is important to verify your voter information now, so that you will not be denied your right to cast your vote for the primary election on Tuesday, Aug. 23.

It is easy – just go to https://hernandovotes.gov and make sure you are still listed as an active voter and that your address is listed correctly.  While you are on the supervisor of elections website, you can also check on your Vote By Mail status, or sign up for a Vote By Mail ballot.

Then… get involved in our advocacy efforts.

Together, we can ensure that our schools have the resources and leadership to support our classrooms and the students in them. Sign up here: https://forms.gle/1qxe2tGiCtrxTrrj6

Ask HCSB to Support Relief Payments for ALL Instructional Staff

Now that the FLDOE is beginning to issue guidance regarding the $1000 relief payments from the state for classroom teachers and principals, we need to make sure that none of our instructional colleagues are left out!  Our non-classroom instructional staff were vital to the safe and successful return to learning for students in Hernando Schools. The failure of state-level leaders to recognize that is discouraging, but it doesn't have to be divisive!

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Public Ed Activist BINGO

 

Click to Access the Digital Public Ed Activist BINGO Card:

Take Action: Protect FRS!

The Florida Retirement System (FRS) is routinely found to be one of the healthiest and well-funded in the country. Despite this fact politicians continue to attack it.

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Take Action: Email the Governor: Keep Students & Educators Safe in the Ongoing Pandemic

Though it seems the spread of the coronavirus through our community may be subsiding, the health and well-being of our students and educators is dependent upon the vigilance of every one of us. Even as we practice physical distancing and continue to wear masks, we know that more must be done to provide for the safest possible learning environment for EVERY student and public school employee. 

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Take Action: Pause High-Stakes Testing

Policy makers’ devotion to standardized testing and flawed measurements of learning gains under the guise of ‘accountability’ are stumbling blocks for high-quality instruction in a normal year. In the middle of a pandemic, such obsessions are no less than educational malpractice.

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Election 2020: Endorsements and Recommendations

Your professional assciation and our affiliates make candidate endorsements utilizing research, local input and a democratic process. The endorsements are based upon education issues.

Candidate endorsements are based upon a commitment to our neighborhood public schools, colleges and universities, our students and to the people who work in public education.

 

How you vote is a personal decision. As an educator, exercising your right and responsibility to vote is paramount duty to your students and your community. When educators vote, students win!

 

HCTA Endorsements & Recommendations

Hernando County Commission, District 1 :  Isaiah Haddon

Hernando School District Millage Election for Public School Students :  SUPPORT

 

FEA Endorsements & Recommendations

Voter Toolkit 

 

NEA Endorsements & Recommendations

Education Votes

 

AFT Endorsements & Recommendations

AFT Votes

 

 

Petition: Action Needed to Slow the Spread

Take action to reduce the spread of COVID-19 so we can return to school

Target: Governor Ron DeSantis

Florida's children must not return to school campuses until steps are taken to reduce the rate of community spread in Florida. The rate of infection is growing at an alarming rate yet little is being done to slow the spread and even less is being done to support safe return to our schools. We must demand our governor take all necessary steps to slow the infection rate in our state before our children return to brick and mortar schools.

Click here to sign the petition.