- April 23, 2024
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The focus was on education when Lt. Governor candidate Karla Hernandez-Mats made an appearance at a Flagler Democratic Party rally on the morning of Saturday, Sept. 24, at the Exploration Pavilion in Holland Park.
Hernandez-Mats, the president of the teachers union in Miami-Dade County and the vice president of the American Federation of Teachers, is the running mate of Charlie Crist, the Democratic candidate for governor.
"Having me as Lieutenant Governor means you're at the table, because your issues are my issues."
— KARLA HERNANDEZ-MATS
"Charlie is amazing," Hernandez-Mats said. "He could have picked anyone with political experience to be his running mate. But he picked me, a mom and an educator. Having me as lieutenant governor means you're at the table, because your issues are my issues."
Hernandez-Mats is the daughter of Honduran immigrants. She grew up in Hialeah, earned her bachelor's degree in emotionally handicapped education from Florida International University and a master's in business management from St. Thomas University. She taught special education for 19 years and was Hialeah Middle School's Teacher of the Year in 2010.
She said education will be on the ballot, voting rights will be on the ballot and women's rights will be on the ballot in the Nov. 8 general election.
"A few months ago, I felt like I was punched in my gut when Roe v. Wade was overturned (by the Supreme Court)," she said. "My daughter is 8 years old and she has less rights than I've had my entire life."
A Flagler Palm Coast high school student asked advice about getting younger people involved in the election.
"This generation has been leading the way," Hernandez-Mats said. "We want to do Generation Z rallies. We want to see you be active."
A Flagler Schools' paraprofessional asked about raising pay for educational support professionals. On Sept. 20, the Flagler County School Board approved a raise to $15 an hour for all district employees who were making less than that. All other non-instructional employees will receive a raise of 20 cents an hour.
But as a result, the district acknowledged that the salary matrix is now unbalanced for some support positions with veteran employees making not much more than new employees. Dave Freeman, the district chief of operations, said the district and the support union have agreed to form a salary matrix committee which will meet once a month and report back to both bargaining units in April.
Hernandez-Mats said Crist has a plan for lifting all school employees' pay, noting that there are currently 9,000 teacher vacancies state-wide.
