Crist is scheduled to officially announce the selection of Hernandez-Mats at a press conference Saturday morning in South Florida. As the three-time president-elect of United Teachers of Dade (UTD), Hernandez-Mats oversees the operations of the largest labor union in the Southeastern United States in the fourth largest school district nationally. It’s a pivotal time for education, with most conservatives and progressives divided over where authority should rest on school safety, gender and gender identity education, and how racism and slavery should be taught. DeSantis’ influence on that front is undeniable. Most of the GOP-aligned School Board candidates he endorsed either won their seats on Aug. 23 or are headed to runoffs. Democrats are trying to stop the bleeding, and Hernandez-Mats’ voice rings loud among UTD’s 30,000 members and the 1.7 million members of its parent organization, the American Federation of Teachers, of which she is vice president. So, who exactly is Karla Hernandez-Mats? Let’s take a look. She is UTD’s first Hispanic leader and has a family background in unionism. A first-generation American born to Honduran immigrants, Hernandez-Mats learned to appreciate the power of collective bargaining as a young girl. Her father, an accountant back home, first worked as a farmer after arriving in the state, cutting sugar cane and picking tomatoes, among other traditional farm jobs. One day, he was offered a job as a carpenter. The affiliated union offered training, advocacy and collective bargaining. “My dad, having worked in the fields for so long, knowing what it was like to not have rights or a good wage, he said, ‘Absolutely,’” he told this reporter in 2019. “From very early on, my parents, especially Dad taught me the importance of being in the labor movement, standing up for people’s rights.” She grew up educated in the Miami-Dade County public school system, where she eventually landed a job after graduating from Florida International University with a degree in emotional disabilities education. In 2007, he earned a master’s degree in business administration from the University of St. Thomas. Six years later, he successfully ran to become UTD treasurer. Three years after that, he won the team’s presidency, succeeding Fredrick Ingram, the organization’s first black leader, whom he described as a “great mentor.” He fought for teacher pay raises – and won. Ahead of the 2018 midterms, Hernandez-Mats was among the vocal leaders supporting Referendum 362, a county ballot measure that raises property taxes by $142 a year for the average Miami-Dade homeowner to raise the fees of teachers and school staff and hire school police. officer for each campus. Former Gov. Rick Scott’s administration had given Miami-Dade the third-lowest base increase in student pay, which could go toward teacher raises, among Florida’s 67 counties. To better compensate their teachers, Miami-Dade residents joined voters in other counties, including Broward and Palm Beach, in overwhelmingly approving a self-imposed tax increase. “Our schools are underfunded. Our teachers are underpaid and deserve the best because they give us the best. We’re an A-rated district. We have zero failing schools,” Hernandez-Mats told NBC 6 before the vote, which passed with more than 70 percent support. He’s not a big fan of public school money going to charter schools. The victory took on an asterisk six months later, when state lawmakers passed legislation in April 2019 requiring school districts to share referendum money with charter schools, including funds allocated through previous referendums. The measure, which DeSantis signed a month later, has since been tied up in legal challenges. It most recently received an OK in March from the 3rd District Court of Appeals, which reversed a lower court’s decision and ruled that charter schools are eligible for public school referendum funding. Speaking to Miami Today about the issue, Hernandez-Mats described the issue as a symptom of “Tallahassee’s overreaching powers.” “They want to privatize public education,” he said. “There is no problem with private schools. They were established for a reason. And there is no problem with charter schools or charter school teachers. But they should not be funded with public tax dollars because they have no public oversight. They are not accountable to the public. Public schools are.” He continued, “At the end of the day, they’re hurting our kids. … Why would you do that when the public school system helps and educates 90% of every community? Unfortunately, like our country, it goes a little backwards, trying to give to the haves and take from the have-nots.” He protested “Dreamers” on the steps of the US Capitol — and was arrested. Hernandez-Mats in December 2017 was arrested with U.S. Rep. Judy Chu of California and former U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Illinois while demonstrating with hundreds of protesters in Washington, D.C. They were there to oppose former President Donald Trump’s proposal to phase out and replace the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. At the time, the program covered about 800,000 people who came to the U.S. illegally as children, allowing them to work and go to school. “Many of these people who came at a very young age felt American in every aspect of their lives, went to our public schools, and then (reached a dead end) until they became ‘DACA feelers,’ because (former President Barack ) The Obama administration allowed them to be DACA recipients so they could go to school and work here,” he told Miami Today about a year and a half later. “We have kids that we teach in school and we tell them, ‘The sky’s the limit. Don’t hold back. Go to school. Get an education.” Then they realize they can’t because they don’t have documents. Or we have teachers who fear they might be deported because they are under DACA. They are not sure what will happen to them and their legal status. That’s when we have to talk about them.” Hernandez-Mats characterized the protest as non-violent. “Sometimes you have to make bold statements,” he said. “This is a peaceful protest, as it happened. Sometimes that’s part of the job.” He was among 17 other potential candidates in Crist’s campaign rollout months ago. In June, Crist’s campaign released a list of 18 people it said it was weighing as a possible running mate. Twelve are current, publicly elected officials. The rest, including Hernandez-Mats, are not. Elected officials considered by Crist included incoming Florida House Minority Leader Fedrice Driskel, state Sens. Shevrin Jones, Tina Polsky and Bobby Powell, state Reps. Anna Eskamani, Al Lawson and Marie Woodson, Mayor of Miami Beach Dan Gelber, Miramar Mayor Wayne Messam, Palm Beach Tax Collector Anne Gannon, Brevard County School Board Member Jennifer Jenkins and Orange County Property Appraiser Amy Mercado. He also named Florida Democratic Party Chairman Manny Diaz, former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, former state Rep. Sean Shaw, former Telemundo anchor Maria Celeste Arrarás and Miami attorney Mary Ann Ruiz as candidates for the post of Lieutenant Governor. After Primary Election Day and with the Sept. 1 deadline for Crist to pick running mates fast approaching, speculation grew about who it would be. Pollster Fernand Amandi suggested Crist should bypass the panel entirely and pick Andrew Warren, the Hillsborough County district attorney who DeSantis suspended because he said he would not enforce Florida’s new 15-week abortion ban . NBC News NOW anchor Chuck Todd and Kristen Welker mentioned any of the candidates Tuesday and instead asked Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, Crist’s opponent in the Democratic primary, if she would accept an offer. She will. In a guest opinion column for Florida Politics, government lawyer Chris Hand, a seasoned former congressional press secretary, singled out Driskell, Eskamani and Mercado as capable of “providing the political acumen and government experience that Crist needs as a running mate.” . The problem, he said, is that they would either have to drop their re-election bids or resign from office to join Crist in his campaign for the Governor’s Mansion. To avoid such a tradeoff, Hand recommended that Crist choose between Mucarsel-Powell, former gubernatorial candidate and U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, former Gainesville Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan, former state Rep. Mia Jones, Palm Beach County Commissioner , Melissa McKinlay, whose term ends in November, or Orange County Public Schools Superintendent Barbara Jenkins, who is retiring in December. Post views: 0
