The president of a union that represents more 120,000 Florida educators shares his thoughts on the Department of Education, and Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson talks about egg prices and immigration.
Previous Episodes
- Florida lawmakers look to fight flooding with lower taxes, and Trump orders a department dismantled
- Americans start combing through unredacted JFK assassination docs, and DeSantis weighs in on deportation drama
- Florida lawmakers look to ban weather modification, and Trump targets judge who blocked deportations
Teacher union president talks Education Department dismantling
The Trump administration answered some of the outstanding questions on Friday following the president’s Thursday signing of an executive order that calls for the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education.
Many educators across the country, however, still have concerns.
Florida Education Association President Andrew Spar says his trepidations focus on potential impacts on students.
“You know, I have a daughter who's still in public schools, and I think about all of the programs that are run through the federal government programs for students with disabilities,” he said. “I grew up with dyslexia. I had an individualized education plan that helped me be successful at school and beyond because of the U.S. Department of Education.”
Spar expressed specific concern about the future of Pell grants and other forms of federal assistance.
“I think about in our schools with high poverty rates, that before and after school programs, the enrichment programs, the career and tech programs, as well as for students at the college level,” he said. “That all is governed by the U.S. Department of Education and would be dramatically impacted by a closure of that department.”
President Trump said Thursday the Small Business Administration will now handle the federal student loan program, and the Department Health and Human Services will oversee special needs and nutrition program.
Spar says the Education Department’s other roles are also important.
“At the end of the day, the U.S. Department of Education enforces this federal law as it relates to education. That's not something the state really can do,” he said.
Florida's agriculture commissioner discusses egg prices and deportations
An egg farmer from Trilby, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson understands supply and demand.
He says price spikes have raised eyebrows before at grocery stores, but the current situation is worse than in years past.
This has happened throughout, you know, the last four, five, six decades where you have avian flu somewhere creep up in any particular decade, but it normally only lasts six months to a year, and then you're over it. And so, you'll see a small spike in pricing, and then it goes right back down,” he said. “This has been unprecedented in the last four or five years.”
Simpson says nearly 150 million egg-laying chickens have had to be put down, and there's only about 330 million in the entire country. So, egg farmers are struggling to meet demand.
“[Farmers] hate the idea of egg prices being like this, and in a short supply, just as much as everybody does,” Simson said. “This is not our business model.”
Simson also says Florida is better prepared for outbreaks than other states.
“We're blessed in Florida where we have not had a commercial flock with (flu) at this time, so I think that, you know, the rest of the country is really trying to catch up on its biosecurity,” he said.
Simpson also addressed questions about the nationwide crackdown on illegal immigration and its impact on Florida’s agriculture industry. He says the numbers don’t justify the labor concerns.
“The studies that we have seen nationwide, less than five percent of illegal immigrants work in agriculture. I think there's a perception that a lot more do, but it's just not the case,” he said. “When people drive by a field and they see H2A workers, they make assumptions. Sometimes they see Americans out there and they still make assumptions. And so we're very proud of our diverse workforce in agriculture.”
Asked more specifically about the direct affect of deportations, Simpson had this to say:
“I'm not worried at all. We've, farmers have had plenty of time to develop their plans and their programs through the decades. They understand that we do not want illegal immigrants in this country.”
