Charlie Christ’s Lieutenant Governor’s Choice Talks About Education at DeLand
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DELAND — About 50 Volusia Democrats gathered at headquarters Friday night to meet Karla Hernández-Mats, one of the newest faces in the 2022 Florida election.
Charlie Christ’s running mate Hernandez Mats has been President of United Teachers of Dade since 2016 and is a first-generation Honduran Miami native. She hugged dozens of times, posed for countless photos of her, and talked about her humble beginnings before becoming a politician.
“I grew up in a very small house, much smaller than this one. Two bedrooms, one bathroom,” she said.
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She had to share a bed with her grandmother, “my best friend” who was never given the chance to learn to read and write when she was a child. Nevertheless, her grandmother left an indelible impression.
“She taught me a lot about women’s rights, children’s rights,” Hernández-Matz said. “She started working in someone’s kitchen when she was nine.”
Hernández-Mats became a special education teacher.
“I did it because I wanted to be there for little girls like my grandmother,” she said. Let them know that they can do anything and be whatever they want to be.”
She is married and has two children, ages 13 and 8, who attend public schools.
Are you against school choice?
From endorsing school board candidates to defending parental rights to expanding access to private schools through scholarship programs, Gov. Ron DeSantis has made education central to his re-election campaign. rice field.
He also claimed victory in managing the pandemic, reopening schools to in-person learning in August 2020 when COVID deaths surged in Florida, earlier than many other states.
DeSantis’ allies fired ammunition at Hernández-Mats over a number of issues stemming from her advocacy as president of the teachers’ union.
In an op-ed published in the Orlando Sentinel earlier this month, Peyton Lofton, a policy analyst at the New Center think tank, criticized Hernandez Matz for not keeping in touch with her parents.
“She has a history of opposing school choice and the expansion of tax credit scholarship programs that would allow low-income students in Florida to purchase competitive private schools,” he wrote. .
“She also called for a complete end to funding charter schools, arguing ‘give to the haves and take from the have-nots,'” Lofton writes. “Perhaps Hernandez-Matz doesn’t realize that in 2021, 70% of her charter students in Florida will be minorities and 51% will be low-income.”
In a short one-on-one interview with The News-Journal on Friday night, Hernández-Mats addressed these criticisms.
She said she has no plans to abolish charter schools.
“All these different systems of schools and groups of schools are going to exist, and they have existed for a very long time. It was that we couldn’t provide it,” said Hernández Matz.
“Public schools are responsible for 90% of every child’s education, not only in Florida, but across the country. We need to secure funding, our public schools,” she said. “It’s not about eradicating anything.”
She reiterated her call for “accountability” for charter schools and private schools that accept state funding. These schools are not subject to the same grading system as public schools and are allowed to discriminate against students who identify as LBGTQ, students with same-sex parents, and gay teachers, she said. rice field.
The battle between ‘Don’t Say Gay’ and ‘Stop WOKE’
John Navarra, a Daytona Beach native and Democratic candidate for Congress in Florida and a high school social studies teacher, said he was “impressed” by Christo’s choice of educator.
“She knows firsthand what the teaching profession is like,” Navarre said Friday. “And there were a lot of laws that we didn’t ask for that were brought up to the teachers and had to be dealt with. was difficult.”
Dubbed by critics as a “don’t say gay” bill and being heavily pushed by DeSantis, the Custody in Education Act prohibits classroom discussions about sexual orientation or gender identity in grades K-3. I’m here. Appropriate. “
DeSantis also signed into law a bill called the “Stop the Wrons to Our Kids and Employees” or “Stop WOKE” law to stop significant race theory debates in public schools and Banned employment of CRT consultants.
Both bills give parents the right to sue teachers and schools they claim violate these laws.
Navarra said these laws were vague and could have serious consequences for teachers.
“If you tell me to lock the door, it’s easy to obey,” he said.
Hernández-Mats attacked the “parental rights” movement led by DeSantis.
“Teachers are being slandered,” she said. “Since when was it OK to ban books or censor teachers? It’s not OK.
“They’re distracting us and creating these fantastical situations about things that don’t happen, things that aren’t real,” she said. But we don’t let that happen.”
COVID response and experience
As Lieutenant Governor, Hernández-Matz is in a position to intervene on Christo’s behalf if Christo is elected and needs to be replaced.
Hernandez Matz, who has never held a state government job, said he was ready to take on the job of governor.
“I used to teach civics, so I understand how government works and how civics are educated,” she said.
Her job as president of the largest teachers’ union in the Southeast regularly sends her to Tallahassee to advocate for teachers and students.
Hernandez Matz said, “I think people may not see that side of me in the work I do, but I’ve been advocating in Tallahassee for many years. I got
“I also tell people that our schools and classrooms are a microcosm of our community. She said, referring to issues such as poverty, affordable housing and health insurance.
“I think I have a very different and unique perspective. I don’t even say it.”
DeSantis has been credited for his decision to require schools to reopen for in-person instruction in August 2020, while Hernández-Mats said, “Keep Florida schools closed during COVID. campaigned against it, but it hurt students and did essentially nothing to stop its spread,” Lofton wrote. .
Nationwide school closures contributed to lower reading test scores for the first time since 1990, with students of color showing the biggest drop.
Hernández-Mats defended her position on COVID, noting that DeSantis closed Florida with an executive order in March 2020.
“I mean, he put us on lockdown,” she said. “He likes to rewrite history sometimes, but he doesn’t want to admit it.”
She said she fought to keep students and teachers safe after it became clear that in-person learning would take place.
“It meant social distancing protocols. It meant wearing masks. It meant being more hygienic in our schools. And following CDC guidelines, scientists and protocols. We knew we had to do all these things because we were there,” said Hernández-Mats. “We weren’t gambling with our children’s lives. We wanted to make sure it was done right. I think it’s a credit to us for fighting hard to do it in the right way.”
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