TALLAHASSEE – The Florida Education Association (FEA) announced late Thursday that it is recommending
Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum in the race to become governor.

“Andrew Gillum has the courage to take on entrenched politicians and the failed education ‘reform’ policies that
have plagued our neighborhood schools for the past 20 years. His ideas and the energy around his campaign
are absolutely inspiring,” said FEA President Joanne McCall. “He shares with us the goal of providing high
quality public education for every child, with well-trained professionals leading classrooms and class sizes
small enough to allow teachers to connect one-on-one with each student and unlock their passion for learning.”

Miami-born Gillum grew up in a family supported by parents who worked hard to make ends meet. His mother
was a school bus driver, and his father worked in construction. Andrew attended public schools and was the
first in his family to graduate from college.

Gillum’s story is that of many Floridians, which gives him a unique understanding of our communities and the
struggles families face. When he speaks, his message of change connects with Florida voters from all walks of
life.

For educators, Gillum offers tireless and fearless support of the issues about which they care deeply. He has
promised to keep educators at the center of the public education policy discussion.

“I’m so grateful for the support of Florida’s teachers, education professionals and the Florida Education
Association. As a product of Florida’s public schools, I know firsthand how a quality public education can
interrupt intergenerational poverty. But for too long, Republicans have chronically underfunded our public
schools and criminally underpaid our teachers. That’s why, working together, we’ll invest more than $1 billion
into our public schools, teachers and students.

“We’ll hire new teachers at a $50,000 starting salary and raise veteran teacher and staff salaries above the
national average. We’ll end the obsession with high-stakes testing that doesn’t test what our kids know. And
we’ll finally deliver the kind of world-class public education our children deserve and our Constitution requires.”

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The Florida Education Association is the state’s largest association of professional employees, with more
than 140,000 members. FEA represents pre K-12 teachers, higher education faculty, educational staff
professionals, students at our colleges and universities preparing to become teachers and retired
education employees.