Public statements, press releases, and selected board comments.

Good morning.

I’m David Freeland, a math teacher in St. Lucie County and President of the Education Association of St. Lucie.

I come from a family of educators. My dad taught. My mom taught. My sister teaches. And so do I. It’s the family business. So yes, I take this personally, but I’m going to keep this practical and student-centered. In St. Lucie, we’re not debating policy in the abstract. We’re living the consequences every day. When policy misses the mark, this is what it looks like in real schools.

We had a teacher with a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) master’s degree who couldn’t receive credit because she was certified in math, not “STEM,” even though Florida doesn’t offer a STEM certification and even though the “M” stands for math. She left the profession. Our students lost a highly trained educator. That kind of box-checking doesn’t improve instruction. Students lose. (SB 320)

Let’s talk about multi-year contracts. Every year, we lose educators because without them, there’s nothing to stop constant job-shopping or leaving the profession for more stable work. On paper, it looks like a staffing issue. In real life, it’s a student issue. Students need stable learning environments. They need teachers who stay long enough to build relationships and grow programs. Teachers should be able to focus on teaching, not whether they’ll have a job next year. (SB 320)

That’s why I’m calling on House leadership to agenda HB 963. It addresses advanced degrees, ten-year certificates, and multi-year contracts. These aren’t technical details. They are the levers that determine whether talented educators stay in classrooms.

I also need to address HB 995, because I am a union president and because it matters for students. Unions are not outside organizations. They are the people doing the work in schools. Collective bargaining is a constitutional right in Florida, and it is one of the primary ways educators raise concerns early, before they become crises. When educators lose their voice, problems go unaddressed, conditions deteriorate, and students feel the impact. HB 995 makes it harder for educators to maintain that voice. Weakening voice does not reduce bureaucracy. It reduces responsiveness, stability, and student support.

None of this is helped by piling more bureaucracy onto schools that are already stretched thin. Stability, flexibility, and trust — that’s what helps students succeed.

So my request is simple: support and advance the bills that reflect listening to educators and communities, like HB 963 and HB 1187, and oppose legislation like HB 995, which adds bureaucracy and makes it harder for those closest to the work to have a voice in their profession. These decisions matter because they directly shape student outcomes in classrooms across Florida.

Thank you.

Good evening, Chairman Ingersoll, Board members, Superintendent Prince.

Earlier this week, I gave an interview about educator vacancies and retention. In that conversation, I made one point unmistakably clear, and I want to restate it here tonight. The educator shortage in Florida is a state-created problem. It stems from decisions made at the state level, not by this board and not by this district. I drew that line intentionally. Accuracy matters, and so does credibility.

State policy caused the crisis.
Local culture determines how survivable it is.

We did not create the statewide problem, but we do have influence over how it is felt here. And in a moment when the profession is under extraordinary pressure, local choices can either soften the impact or unintentionally make it heavier. That is where our opportunity lies.

Right now, teachers are being asked to carry more responsibility than ever: instructional demands, documentation, interventions, communication, compliance. Expectations continue to grow, and almost nothing is removed to make space for what's added. I raise this not to point fingers, but because it highlights a tension we can address together: balancing necessary structure with trust in professional expertise to better support our students and keep talented educators here. This is about systems and signals, not individuals. When professional judgment is replaced with rigid control, the message educators hear is not about support or instructional quality. The result is less responsive teaching for students.

And to be clear, this is not about adult convenience. It is about instructional quality for students. The district and the union share the same goal: doing what is best for students. Where we sometimes differ is not on the goal, but on the method. We believe students are best served when effective teachers are trusted to practice their craft with minimal intrusion, and when intervention is targeted and warranted, not automatic. If St. Lucie County wants to retain experienced educators and attract new ones, trust matters. Autonomy matters. Respect matters.

That does not mean abandoning consistency or accountability. It means recognizing that effective teachers are professionals, and that their expertise, flexibility, and judgment are assets that strengthen student learning, not liabilities to be managed. In my interview, I did not criticize this district. That remains true. But as an advocate for educators in St. Lucie, I also have a responsibility to speak honestly about the conditions that push people out of the profession. Teachers do not leave because the work is hard. They leave when they feel controlled rather than respected.

We cannot fix the state tonight. But we can make St. Lucie a district where educators want to come, stay, and build long, meaningful careers, a district that turns a statewide challenge into a local advantage.

State policy caused the crisis.
Local culture will determine how we respond to it.

Thank you.