Crist chose the head of the teacher’s union as a running mate, he is busy with education

• Democrat Charlie Crist named teachers union president Carla Hernandez-Mats as his challenger.
• Crist is running against Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who has made education one of his top priorities.
• The fight will be over curriculum and school policies.

HIALEHALE, Fla. – Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist has picked a teacher union boss to defeat Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in Florida, a decision that will frontline education issues and is one of the most closely watched races in the nation.

Crist announced Saturday that he has chosen Karla Hernandez-Mats, president of the United Teachers of Dade since 2016, to run on his ticket. Hernandez-Mats was named Florida’s “Educator of the Year” in 2010, a former middle school special education teacher and the daughter of Honduran immigrants.

As for DeSantis, he cites his education policies as one of his strongest re-election issues. In the year The governor defied federal health officials and teachers unions when he decided to reopen schools in late 2020 during the pandemic.

Despite months of upheaval, many blue-state states eventually followed suit, concluding school closures did more harm than good. The conflict in coverage of school reopenings, and DeSantis’ ability to regularly generate national headlines, has many speculating that he will run for president in 2024.

Hernandez-Mats has clashed with DeSantis in the past and opposed the implementation of the mask order in schools. She opposed school openings and said schools should remain virtual. When asked about her position on Saturday, Hernandez-Mats told reporters at a press conference that she was not wrong and acknowledged that school closures were not linked to Covid-19 deaths.

“We have always been in favor of opening our schools,” she said. “We want to make sure our schools are open with the right measures in place to protect our children and to protect the people who work with children every day.”

— Karla Hernandez (@KarlaforFlorida) October 8, 2020

In a speech on Saturday, Crist described Hernandez-Mats as “compassionate and compassionate,” qualities he said could not be found in his Republican rival. Throughout the campaign, Crist has shown himself to be a seasoned legislator and a go-getter.

Anna Fusco, who heads the Broward Teachers Association, told Insider that Hernandez-Mats was “the best choice he ever made,” calling her a “strong, strong woman for rights for all.”

“It sends a message to DeSantis that you’re wrong and we’re going to fix it again,” she said. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. And that lesson is the foundation of our country and our Florida, so get out of the way. We’re going to go in and win, and we’re going to make Florida like it was.”

In a statement, the Republican National Committee compared Hernandez to American Federation of Teachers President Randy Weingarten, who has pushed to delay school reopenings.

RNC spokeswoman Julia Friedland called Hernandez-Mats “a perfect fit for the lock-in loving Christs’ unpopular anti-parent campaign.”

DeSantis is running against incumbent Lt. Gov. Janet Nunez on his ticket for re-election. Nunez is a former state legislator who is bilingual in Spanish and English.

During his time in office, DeSantis promoted culture-war issues by moving to limit school curriculum or practices on race, gender, and sexual orientation. He cited the phrase “parental rights” in support of parents being more aware of how schools choose textbooks and curriculum.

Florida Democratic Party Chairman Manny Diaz said in an interview, “He’s focused on culture wars and banning books, which does nothing for our kids.”

But there are some signs that DeSantis’ position on education has support. This year, DeSantis took the unprecedented step of endorsing 30 candidates for the school board, and 25 of them were either elected or in Tuesday’s primary — a campaign he sees as evidence that people are embracing the governor’s education agenda.

Hernandez-Mats told reporters Saturday that voters who support DeSantis school board candidates “need more education” about what the real issues are in Florida schools.

Hernandez-Mats promised to ‘restore civility and respect’

Crist has promised to make the position of education commissioner an elected position, raise teacher pay and declare a teacher shortage emergency, as the state faces a 9,000-person teacher shortage, among other promises.

Florida ranks No. 48 nationally in teacher pay, according to the National Education Association, even though the state legislature and DeSantis increased pay and gave bonuses to teachers this past year.

In her acceptance speech on Saturday, Hernandez-Mats wasted no time in slamming DeSantis.

“Tired of the culture wars and the extremists who dictate what we say and do?” She asked her line of supporters, oscillating between English and Spanish. “Are you sick of politicians acting like dictators to tear our democracy apart? That’s why we’re here today to defeat Ron DeSantis and bring decency and dignity back to the state of Florida.”

Crist introduced his running mate at Haileigh Middle School, where Hernandez-Mats teaches. Hialeah is the largest Hispanic city in Miami-Dade County and has the highest number of Cuban and Cuban-American residents of any city in the United States.

Hernandez-Mats, 42, has not previously held elected office. She faced criticism. 2016 Twitter She said that many people are mourning the death of Cuban communist dictator Fidel Castro.

Asked to clarify the statement on Saturday, Hernandez-Mats called out Nunez for her comments on how Florida should send immigrants to Delaware.

“The truth is, when Fidel Castro died, I went out into the street with pots and pans and celebrated with my colleagues and neighbors,” Hernández-Mats said.

Congressman Crist, whose district includes St. Petersburg, is running for his former job. He previously served as Florida’s governor from 2007 to 2011 as a Republican, and was Florida’s commissioner of education in 2000.

“We want real freedom for the people of Florida because under DeSantis, ‘we’re the freest state in the country,'” he said. “No if you’re a woman and you want to vote, or you’re an African American who wants to vote, or you’re a senior citizen who wants to vote by mail.”

Hernandez-Mats told reporters that the “proud” and “humble” Crist chose her and that she was “ready to work.”

“It’s part of the American dream,” she said. “I’m a first-generation American. You know, my parents are immigrants, and that’s what the United States says to think that these opportunities can be given to me as a middle school teacher.”