Who is Charlie Crist Running Mate?

In this article, we are going to cover all the information about Charlie Crist running mate, Karla Hernández.

So, without any further ado, let’s get started –

On Saturday, Charlie Crist running mate was announced. He announced that Karla Hernandez, the president of the Miami teachers union, would be his running mate. The announcement was made at a middle school in Hialeah during a special event. Charlie’s this decision clearly indicates that he will put education at the center of his campaign.

Who is Charlie Crist Running Mate – Karla Hernández?

Karla Hernández is the president of the largest teachers union in the southeastern United States. She has worked for more than a decade teaching children with special needs and is the first Hispanic officer elected to the United Teachers of Dade.

She is a first-generation American who was born and raised in Miami. She has a bachelor’s degree in emotionally handicapped education from Florida International University and a master’s degree in Business Management, which she earned from St. Thomas University.

Karla Hernández Career

Karla Hernández holds executive board positions at the Florida AFL-CIO, the Children’s Trust, the Education Fund, the Florida Education Association Governance Board, and the Florida Education Association Executive Cabinet. She also chairs the AFT’s Women’s Rights Committee.

She works with the United Teachers of Dade as an advocate of social justice issues and volunteers for international aid projects. She frequently addresses national organizations about the difficulties public school teachers face and is a fierce supporter of immigration reform and the defense of children’s rights.

She has performed in this capacity as a featured speaker and presenter for the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the National Education Association (NEA), the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA), the Miami Women’s March, and also the Annual Legislative Conference of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.

Karla Hernández-Mats first demonstrated her love for public service in a classroom where she taught for more than ten years before committing her life and career to lobby for public education. She was chosen as Hialeah Middle School’s Teacher of the Year in 2010 for her exceptional work with students with special needs. She led a group of Miami-Dade educators to Haiti in 2017 to impart knowledge to the students and staff at Sant Twa Te File School.

She served as UTD’s secretary/treasurer from 2013 to 2016 and later served her first term as president from 2016 to 2019. She was re-elected for a second term by 73 percent.

In 2018, Hernández-Mats spearheaded the effort to rally educators and the Miami-Dade neighborhood, to pass Referendum 362, a proposal made by the United Teachers of Dade to increase pay for public school teachers and enhance safety in classrooms.

With support from more than 70% of Miami-Dade voters, this is currently the biggest pay rise the Miami-Dade County Public Schools has ever got.

As a UTD leader, she aimed to influence educational policy and guarantee a bright future for all students enrolled in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. She received recognition from Miami Today in July 2019 as part of its Achiever Series for her efforts to advance public education in the Miami-Dade region.

Why is this move termed against governor DeSantis?

Republicans around the country think focusing on education will benefit them politically, especially Governor Desantis, so this move might be seen as a direct stance against Desantis’s plan.

DeSantis has positioned what he refers to as “parental rights” as a pillar of his campaign and has vigorously pursued legislation restricting what may be taught or even discussed in schools. DeSantis’ Department of Education prohibits several books, including math textbooks, because they are thought to foster a “woke” culture. Ron DeSantis’ Education Agenda tour is all about this.

Additionally, he has developed training programs for history teachers that, in the opinion of his opponents, minimize the role of slavery in American history and advance a Christian nationalist agenda.

Despite criticism from teachers’ unions, the governor has bragged about his administration’s fight to reopen schools quicker than most states and to oppose mask and vaccination regulations. He frequently extols the virtues of doing away with students’ high-stakes end-of-year exams in favor of more frequent evaluations of their academic progress.

DeSantis has also, on numerous occasions, accused teachers of indoctrinating students with “woke ideology.” DeSantis has entered nonpartisan school board races this election cycle, endorsing about 30 candidates who have pledged to support his education plan at the local level, several of whom were elected. 

He has also attacked Crist, claiming that he is a puppet of the teachers’ union and that the state’s teaching unions were responsible for keeping schools closed during the pandemic.

Democrats have reacted angrily to how DeSantis has transformed Florida’s public schools, restricting classroom instruction about race, sexual orientation, and gender identity and providing parents with legal recourse against teachers they claim aren’t adhering to state regulations.