When Andrew Spar was in first grade, he couldn't read.
Though he struggled in school, the educators in his life were determined to make him succeed. In 1994, Spar graduated from Ohio State University. That same year, he moved to Daytona Beach and became a music teacher at Turie T. Small Elementary School.
Now, Spar serves as president of the Florida Education Association, a non-partisan union representing educators in Florida from pre-K–12 schools, and all of Florida's universities and colleges.
“There are so many teachers that I can go on and on about who had an impact on me,” Spar said. “And I think that's true with most educators. There's just someone who really inspired them.”
Through organizations like the FEA, educators and union members advocate for high quality, free public education, and also advocate for educators so they can adequately do their job without interference, Spar said.
But with the Trump administration calling for the dismantling of the Department of Education and Florida’s teachers still struggling to make livable wages, Spar said the future of educators and student proficiency is uncertain.
“We don't need to eliminate the Department of Education. We don't need to underfund our schools. We don't even need to divert dollars away from our schools,” Spar said. “We need to invest and support the amazing work that happens in our public schools every day so that every child experiences what they need to be successful lifelong learners.”
Florida’s policies
In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece submitted by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, he wrote President Donald Trump was “doing what other Republicans have promised, but failed, to do.” The governor said Florida has “led the charge to pursue student-focused, parent-friendly education policies” and overturn previous policies from the Obama and Biden administrations.
“We abolished Common Core, which had been pushed by the Obama administration, because it didn’t work for our students,” DeSantis wrote in the op-ed. “Florida replaced it with high-quality, content-rich standards.”
Common Core, a set of academic standards in subjects like English and math in K-12 education, was abolished in 2020.
At a press conference in February, DeSantis announced a proposal for a record high increase of $1.5 billion for teacher pay and an additional $1.76 billion for early childhood education. The proposal maintains Florida’s low college tuition.
But educators within the FEA argue the proposed budget fails to support students and still undermines the livable wages necessary to live comfortably in the Sunshine State.
“When you think about inflation and the fact that it costs so much more today than it did in 2010 to pay your bills, to buy groceries,” Spar said. “To meet the needs of your family, then you realize that there's a problem here.”
Florida ranks 50th in the nation for average teacher salary, according to the National Education Association. The average teacher salary in the nation is nearly $70,000, but Florida’s average sits at about $53,000.
Spar said DeSantis has not truly invested in public education or teacher salaries. Instead, he diverted dollars to “beginning teacher pay” at the expense of teachers with experience, which has only aggravated the teacher and staff shortage, Spar said.
Though DeSantis’ time as Florida’s governor will come to a close January 2027, his policies and education model have stuck with many nationwide.
Craig Anderson, a 26-year-old political educator and conservative podcast host, said the removal of DEI departments and bills like the “Stop Woke Act” have been a positive addition to combatting left-wing propaganda.
In regard to budget increases for education, Anderson said DeSantis gave a sizable raise to teachers to attract talent in Florida, and bureaucracy in education in general has significantly grown.
Not every administrative and bureaucratic position in the school system is needed, Anderson said, and eliminating those positions at the local level could increase teacher pay.
Anderson said dismantling the DOE has been on “the conservative wish list for the last 50 years.”
“The Department of Education was ultimately another tool of the left to fulfill its political agenda, rather than serve students,” Anderson said.
For the 2022-2023 school year, the Florida Department of Education reported 4,440 unfilled positions — the highest among all states who had reported vacancies that year. Similarly, Florida reported 9.3% of classes were taught by teachers who were not appropriately qualified based on state requirements.
But Florida wants to do something different than liberal groups when it comes to education, such as taking power away from a centralized government and funding education within the state, said Raemi Eagle-Glenn, the state committeewoman for the Alachua County Republicans.
In February, The Florida Department of Education's Charter School Review Commission approved Newberry Elementary School to become a public charter school beginning in the 2026–2027 school year. Eagle-Glenn said she was happy with the decision because parents were “very fed up.”
By returning power back to the states, she said, ideological indoctrination will not be as prevalent in schools locally.
“I like what I see with members of communities coming together, rising up, moving away from the public school boards,” Eagle-Glenn said. “Moving away from the influence of the teachers unions, and creating their own local education systems.”
But for others like David Arreola, a former Gainesville city commissioner who's worked closely with his school board, the conversion of schools like Newberry Elementary is a destructive example of how conservatives want total control of what’s taught in schools.
Within the next several years, Arreola said he anticipates Florida will be a much more accelerated version of current conservative policies. With the 2026 governors election, he said, much is at stake.
“[I see Florida] completely getting rid of public education, I could see the state university system becoming a simple mouthpiece for conservative politicians,” Arreola said. “You already see the trend of placing failed Republican politicians into presidential roles at colleges and universities, where they enact a political agenda.”
Upon asking The Governor's Office for an interview, The Alligator was redirected to the Feb. 14 press conference.
Federal policy changes
On March 20, Trump signed an executive order to dismantle the DOE, which is in charge of the country’s national education policy. The DOE was established in 1979 under former President Jimmy Carter, and it oversees national education policy and administers federal assistance programs for schools across the country.
The DOE manages a budget of approximately $268 billion, which was about 4% of U.S. federal spending in the fiscal year 2024. The Department of Health and Human Services, which is now overseen by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., was first on the list of highest federal spending.
Scrapping the department would require congressional approval, and no president has ever successfully closed a cabinet-level agency before. Through the executive order, Trump instructed the Education Secretary, Linda McMahon, to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure” and “return authority over education to the States and local communities.”
For conservative students like David Soto, an 18-year-old UF political science freshman, dismantling the DOE serves as a way to prevent unnecessary funding. Having lived in California before moving to Florida for college, Soto said students are allowed a voice on their college campuses in Florida, and the state provides a more unbiased approach to education.
Through podcasts like Joe Rogan and Theo Von, Soto said he can educate himself, listen to diverse perspectives and witness live fact-checking, he said.
“I know ever since the Department of Education has been instituted, we dropped down on education severely,” Soto said.
Connor Effrain, a 21-year-old UF history junior and the president of UF College Democrats, said shutting down the DOE only serves as a way to harm marginalized students, such as low-income students or those with disabilities.
Currently, the DOE administers programs created by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which has aided 7.5 million disabled students, according to a report from The Century Foundation, a progressive think tank. Fifteen percent of Florida’s students between the ages of 3 and 21 are served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
Effrain said those in support of dismantling the DOE who claim educators are indoctrinating students are projecting.
“Who's the one who's funneling millions of dollars into state universities across the country to set up civic centers full of people with Republican administration?” Effrain said. “You don't see Democrats doing something like that.”
The DOE also runs the largest K-12 program, known as Title I, which provides funding to schools that enroll high percentages of low-income students. Nearly two-thirds of all public schools receive Title I funding.
There are more than 2,200 schools listed as Title I schools in the Florida Department of Education’s 2023-2024 school lists and allocations list.
The report also outlines how the DOE plays “a key role in enforcing civil rights laws that protect students from discrimination based on race or national origin, immigration status, sex, disability and religion.” Similarly, the future of student loan repayment programs and its protections may remain unclear.
In a press release published through the DOE, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said closing the DOE does “not mean cutting off funds from those who depend on them.”
“We will continue to support K-12 students, students with special needs, college student borrowers, and others who rely on essential programs,” McMahon wrote. “We’re going to follow the law and eliminate the bureaucracy responsibly by working through Congress to ensure a lawful and orderly transition.”
Contact Vivienne Serret at vserret@alligator.org Follow her on X @vivienneserret.
Vivienne Serret is a UF journalism and criminology senior, serving as the Fall 2024 race and equity reporter for The Alligator's Enterprise desk. She previously worked as a columnist and previously reported for The Alligator's university desk as the student government reporter. She loves karaoke and lifting at the gym.
