Hernando Classroom Teachers' Association

Taking Action for Our Schools, Our Community

Our students and community need strong, vibrant public schools. We know that teachers' voices can make the difference in ensuring that the resources are available to meet every student's individual needs. That's why we are shining a light on the achievements in our classrooms and the work and challenges associated with them. The narrative of Hernando's public schools belongs to all of us, and in order for the truth to be known, we need to be the ones telling our stories!

Fund Our Future, Hernando

As a statewide teacher shortage grows, our professional association is advocating for meaningful changes in state and local policies that directly impact our classrooms. Fund Our Future is an ongoing campaign to recruit and retain teachers, promote student success, and invest in our neighborhood public schools. Here in Hernando County we support local efforts to supplement state and federal funding to ensure competitive wages for educators, expand academic opportunities and increase career paths for students, and to provide the classrooms needed to support a rapidly expanding population. Together, we are proudly speaking up and speaking out for our neighborhood public schools -- and the students educated in them!

FundOurFuture Bus Tour is Coming to Hernando!

See you at a bus stop!

Starting Oct. 21, FEA officers and staff will roll out on a statewide, five-week bus tour for public education. We will be on a campaign for our students, public schools and YOU. Please plan to come out and meet us at a stop.

The idea is to focus attention on public schools and build community support well before January, when the Legislature will be making decisions that affect all of us. If we are going to win in the next session, we need to be seen and heard now.

The stakes are very high. We are fighting for improved funding for public schools and for better pay for all school employees. We want an end to the over-testing of students and a halt to the expansion of voucher programs that divert public money to private schools. We demand that this state support the schools that educate 90 percent of our students, and that lawmakers show proper respect to the people who devote their lives to Florida’s children.

In coordination with local unions, the Fund Our Future bus tour will make about 50 stops at events and schools from Pensacola to the Florida Keys. The first stop will be on Oct. 21 in the Panhandle, and the tour comes to a close on Nov. 23 in Orlando.

The Hernando stop is slated for the afternoon of November 1st! More details are coming. Be sure to save the date!

The VAM Scam

September 18, 2019 - FEA's second article in their series exposing how Florida policies are undermining student success focuses on the scam that is VAM. Since its introduction into teacher evaluation processes, educators across the nation have protested the use of this flawed measure to identify ineffective teachers and brand schools as 'failing'. Recently, the Florida Legislature paved the way for school districts to move teacher evaluation models away from their reliance on VAM as the measure of student performance, but unfortunately it remains an instrument of disruption for the state.

Read

August 26, 2019

Over the next few months this multi-part series will take a deep dive into the ways that Florida’s education policies have led to a full-scale crisis in the teaching profession.

Every student in Florida deserves to be in a classroom with a certified, highly-qualified, and dedicated teacher. Students deserve schools with full-time media specialists and schools that are staffed with more counselors and nurses than security guards. Florida’s students deserve the very best. Currently, Florida’s politicians are failing Florida’s future.

Over the past two decades the Legislature and

(August 23, 2019)

FEA calls for $22 billion, multi-year investment in schools

TALLAHASSEE — After 20 years of neglect and bad policy, the Florida Education Association (FEA) is calling for a "Decade of Progress" for Florida’s public schools. This means a multi-year commitment of $22 billion for our public school students.

“We are in an education crisis in this state,” said FEA President Fedrick Ingram. “Our children are paying the price for more than two decades of underfunding and poor policy decisions. We have a severe teacher shortage, and about 300,000 students started school this year

(July 30, 2019) HCTA Executive Board members joined Hernando County Schools in welcoming nearly 100 new educators to the county during the district's annual New Teacher Orientation. Day one of the three day induction allowed our professional association to greet incoming teachers, provide lunch, and share the benefits of membership in our local, state and national organizations. A majority of attending new hires chose to invest in their profession through membership! Together, we make a difference! HCTA is excited to be growing with these professionals.

Elected representatives of HCTA attended the National Education Association's Representative Assembly (RA) in Houston, TX, July 3rd-7th. These dedicated association members, along with thousands of education colleagues from across the nation, vetted positions on current education issues and tackled 160 new business items over the course of five days. The RA serves at the primary legislative and policy-making body of the NEA. To learn more about the work of the NEA RA, visit the National Education Association's webpage.

Taking Action for Our Schools, Our Community

Fund Our Future, Hernando

FundOurFuture Bus Tour is Coming to Hernando!

The VAM Scam

Bad Policy and Low Pay...

FEA Calls for 'A Decade of Progress'

HCTA Welcomes New Educators

HCTA @ the NEA Representative Assembly