Tonya A 🪷🖤💜

Here’s what I find interesting. Florida Republicans have spent years telling teachers how much they are valued while paying them some of the lowest salaries in the country. Now David Jolly comes along and proposes a 30% raise, which our teachers have earned, and suddenly everybody wants to count every dollar. Let’s be clear. The estimated $3 billion annual cost is a legitimate number to discuss. Let’s have that conversation. But this graphic takes that number and turns it into a payday loan, billions in interest, higher taxes, and threats to children’s scholarships without establishing that any of those things are actually part of Jolly’s proposal. Y’all are just making up shit. Jolly is proposing to change how Florida can use tourism revenue to invest in public education. Yes, that requires legislative action. And yes, the campaign should explain the long-term funding structure. That’s a conversation to have with the legislature, working through the details, identifying available revenue, and determining how we make a meaningful investment in our public school system. But where was all this concern about fiscal responsibility when the DeSantis administration was spending hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on Alligator Alcatraz? Where was the outrage over the money poured into that political spectacle instead of addressing the actual needs of Floridians? And what about the questions surrounding state contracts and politically connected vendors? Where was all this demand for accountability then? We can find money for corporate incentives, private school vouchers, and political stunts. James Uthmeier, Ashley Moody, and that $10 million Hope Florida controversy. Does that ring a bell? But the minute somebody proposes giving our public school teachers a meaningful raise, suddenly everybody wants to become a fiscal conservative again. Florida has a nearly $118 billion state budget. This is a conversation about priorities. And for far too long, our public school teachers have been at the bottom of that list. If you want to challenge Jolly’s math, cool. Whatever. Challenge his actual proposal. Let’s discuss the revenue, the legal requirements, and how to sustain the raises over time. But don’t manufacture a financial crisis around paying teachers better wages while ignoring the spending decisions this administration has already made. I would much rather see my tax dollars invested in the people educating Florida’s children than another expensive political stunt designed to generate headlines.