Leon County teachers union endorses Wood, Rogers in school board races

The Leon County teacher's union is endorsing Leon County School Board candidates Rosanne Wood, an incumbent, for District 2 and Jeremy Rogers, a challenger, for District 4 in the August primaries.

"They're recommendations," Leon Classroom Teachers Association President Scott Mazur said. "We have looked at what we believe in based on our mission and objectives, and what we believe creates strong communities, and ultimately that's our public schools."

The union doesn't provide financial contributions to candidates it endorses, Mazur said. Instead, it endorses candidates so teachers can make an informed decision.

The union did not recommend any candidate for superintendent. Mazur said that would be decided after the August primaries, when incumbent Rocky Hanna and Florida A&M's Development Research Elementary School Principal Star Swain, both Democrats, are facing off.

The winner will go on to face Chiles High School Principal Joe Burgess on the November ballot since he is filed as a no-party-affiliated candidate.

Mazur said the union made the decision to give teachers more time to assess candidates in that race and the platforms they are running on.

The union screened candidates on subjects such as school vouchers, solutions for high teacher turnover and other issues, to evaluate whether they aligned with the union's top priority to strengthen public schools, students and teachers.

"When we support a candidate, particularly in the school board races, we look at those elements as an organization, and the organization decided that these were the recommendations that upheld those things," Mazur told the Tallahassee Democrat Wednesday morning.

Mazur said both of the recommended candidates have expressed support for transparency with teachers, and incentives to help with recruiting and retention and other efforts that would positively affect the local public school system.

Wood, a Democrat, was initially elected in 2016 and has served as a teacher, a principal and school board member. She has advocated for teachers and students to find 'solace in the schoolhouse,' and for there to be more transparency between the school district's administration and its teachers.

She is being challenged by first time candidate Daniel Zeruto, a Republican, who has expressed a need for more transparency with the district's parents and teachers and has supported raising teacher pay.

Rogers, a Democrat in his first bid for public office, has been vocal about engaging teachers and students with new curriculums and incentives. The firefighter, father and nonprofit operator owns and operates a pre-school and supports at-risk youth through his non-profit organization.

His opponent, Laurie Lawson Cox, the only Republican currently on the board, was not recommended by the LCTA in her first campaign in 2022. Instead, members supported her then-opponent Alex Stemle, the current assistant principal of Godby High School.

Mazur made clear that the union's choice of one candidate over another is not meant to vilify anyone.

"We're not here to place a scarlet letter on anyone," Mazur said. "Support doesn't mean that there aren't things to still work or that other candidates have brought up and identified."

After the most recent teacher salary negotiations with the union concluded with a $5.12 million package for teachers, District 4 incumbent Cox suggested teachers should have an "attitude of gratitude."

The comment took many parents and teachers by surprise, with some even calling it "tone deaf," considering Cox's over 30-year stint in Leon County classrooms.

Mazur said the recommendations are meant to help remind candidates that teachers are vital voters, and remind teachers that their voices matter.

"Teachers that are well informed, and teachers that are engaged with their union vote at a higher rate," Mazur said. "I think it's very important for candidates to understand that not only are they LCTA members, but they're also LCS employees, and they're Leon County residents, and many of them are parents."

Alaijah Brown covers children & families for the Tallahassee Democrat. She can be reached at ABrown1@gannett.com . Follow her on Twitter/X: @AlaijahBrown3 .

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Leon County teachers union endorses Wood, Rogers in school board races