Florida Education Association

Basic facts
Location:| Tallahassee, Fla.
Type:| 501(c)(5)
Top official:| Joanne McCall, President
Website:| Official website

The Florida Education Association (FEA) is a school union in the state of Florida. The organization is the state affiliate of the National Education Association. Florida is a right to work state, so public school teachers do not have to belong to the state-wide union.

## Contents

* 1 Mission
* 2 Background
* 3 Work
* 3.1 Professional services
* 3.2 Lobbying
* 4 Leadership
* 5 Noteworthy events
* 6 Recent news
* 7 See also
* 8 External links
* 9 Footnotes

## Mission[edit]

According the FEA's website, the organization's mission statement is:[1]

“  |

* Advocate the right to a free, quality public education for all
* Empower and support local affiliates
* Advance professional growth, development and status of all who serve the students in Florida's public schools, colleges, and universities
* Engage our members and communities to ensure that all students learn and succeed in a diverse world[2]

| ”

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## Background[edit]

The FEA was formed in 2000 after the merging of two state education associations, the Florida Teaching Profession-NEA and the FEA/United. The group dates its origins to 1886 when the first organization of professional educators, known as the Florida Education Association, was formed in Florida. According to the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting, the original organization split in two in the 1970s with "one connected to the National Education Association and the other to the American Federation of Teachers, each filing its own tax return."[3]

The group characterizes its work and origins in the history section of its website, stating, "The Florida Education Association represents more than 250,000 teachers and education staff professional in Florida’s 67 school districts. For over a century, the FEA has been the leading advocate of raising the quality of education in Florida’s public schools, and of increasing the dignity and status of all teachers and education staff professionals."[4]

## Work[edit]

Influencers

* * *

State affiliates of the National Education Association
Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Mississippi • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Jersey • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Virginia • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming

* * *

### Professional services[edit]

The FEA offers a number of professional services to its members. Members are also given membership in the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers. The group offers legal services as well as professional development opportunities, such as the Summer Academy, where teachers learn about management skills, leadership, political advocacy, and organizing.[5]

### Lobbying[edit]

The FEA actively lobbies the Florida State Legislature on issues related to public education. In 2015, the organization released a series of white paper reports outlining the FEA's positions on eight public education issues. The following are the issues identified by the FEA along with a short excerpt from the group's policy statement:[6]

* Charter Schools: "Local school boards should have authority over determining local tax dollar expenditures to charter schools."
* Class Size: "Implementation of class-size reduction has been the surest way to target needed dollars directly at the classroom level. These dollars go directly to funding students, classroom space, teachers and teacher salaries – not bureaucracies. Implementing class-size reduction is an affordable and effective use of our school money."
* Higher Education: "Higher education is one of the most cost-effective expenditures Florida can make. The economic potential of our state depends on vibrant and accessible higher education."
* Private School Vouchers: " They only offer a solution to a small number of students who attend low-performing schools. Florida’s taxpayers and students would be better served by investing these scarce resources to improve our lowest performing schools and helping all of the students who attend them."
* Retirement: "Retirement system changes should reflect a consideration of total compensation, should be based on the independently verified facts, and should not disadvantage any class in order to benefit another."
* Teacher Evaluation: "FEA opposes most of the requirements levied on districts, schools and teachers contained in the cynically-named Student Success Act (known as SB 736 in 2011)."
* Testing: "The development of a new education system in Florida that recognizes the importance of educating every student to high levels of complex content mastery and applying that knowledge to solve practical problems is an absolute. The system must balance actions that support knowledge acquisition and application with actions that promote independent thought, creativity and innovation."
* Virtual Education: "We don’t necessarily oppose the expansion of virtual schools, but several safeguards must be put in place to protect students and ensure they receive the best education possible."

## Leadership[edit]

The website for the Florida Education Association lists the following individuals as members of the organization's executive cabinet:[7]

* Joanne McCall, President
* Fedrick Ingram, Vice president
* Luke Flynt, Secretary-Treasurer
* Sharon Glickman, Large local president director
* Rosie Guerrido, ESP director
* Bernie Kemp, ESP director
* Melissa Rudd, Small local president director
* B Grassel, Retired director
* Kali Davis, Elementary teacher director
* Kelsey Lewis, Pre-K-12 director
* Vanessa Skipper, Secondary teacher director
* Kenny Blankenship, Medium local president director
* Ruby George, Minority affairs director
* Karla Hernandez-Mats, Minority affairs director
* Jennifer Proffitt, Higher ed director

## Noteworthy events[edit]

In 2013, the FEA had its nonprofit tax status revoked by the IRS because the group had not submitted tax returns for three consecutive years. According to the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting, the organization mixed up tax identification numbers for the IRS. The Center reported, "It was a hangover from the 2000 move to merge the FEAs. The entity was filing its taxes, but under a number that was for some reason evading the IRS bureaucracy."[3] In a phone conversation with Ballotpedia, FEA spokesperson Mark Pudlow confirmed that the organization had since had its tax status restored; it was recognized as a 501(c)(5) organization by the IRS, according to Pudlow.[8]

## Recent news[edit]

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Florida Education Association'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Florida Education Association - Google News

## See also[edit]

* American Federation of Teachers
* National Education Association

## External links[edit]

* Florida Education Association
* Florida Education Association on Facebook

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ Florida Education Association, "Vision, Mission and Goals," accessed July 8, 2016
2. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Florida Center for Investigative Reporting, "Florida’s Largest Teachers Union Lost Tax-Exempt Status," May 3, 2013
4. ↑ Florida Education Association, "FEA History," accessed July 8, 2016
5. ↑ Florida Education Association, "2016 Summer Academy Promo," accessed July 8, 2016
6. ↑ Florida Education Association, "FEA White Papers," archived March 18, 2015
7. ↑ Florida Education Association, "FEA Leadership," accessed July 8, 2016
8. ↑ David Borman, "Phone communication with Florida Education Association Spokesperson Mark Pudlow," July 8, 2016]

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