Teacher pay, guns in schools loom large this election year | Florida Voices

Florida Voices is a project of the USA TODAY Network-Florida that spotlights issues important to Floridians this election year. Learn more, including how to nominate a Floridian.

Jonathan Hilliard says three words and his fourth-grade students scoot in their chairs and straighten their backs.

"Position of success!"

Hilliard doesn't have to raise his voice or repeat himself. The students have a respectful rapport with him. It's part of what keeps the 51-year-old in the classroom.

“It’s who I am," he says of being a public-school teacher. "It’s my gift.”

It is not a lucrative one.

In recent weeks, teacher walk-outs in five states have upended America's discussion about public-education funding. North Carolina is poised to become the sixth.

In Florida, the debate about school funding has hinged on safety after the February shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Florida lawmakers added about $400 million for safety and mental health to the state's K-12 budget. Still, per-pupil spending is more than $1,000 shy of pre-recession levels when adjusted for inflation, according to PolitiFact Florida.

“You notice, (almost) a half a billion dollars came out of nowhere for security," Hilliard says during an interview in his classroom at Apollo Elementary School in Titusville.

Imagine, he says, if Florida could also come up with that kind of money to develop a more effective system for educating students.

Instead of being laser-focused on standardized testing, Hilliard believes the state should look at more data points.

"You know, include the grades, include the portfolios, include the (non-standardized) testings. Get the parent input. Look at the whole picture because we’re dealing with people. These aren't widgets. These aren’t bumpers on a car. They are children.”

Hilliard is the kind of teacher you would want your child to have. He loves math. He relates lessons to his students' lives, dropping Yoda quotes into academic discussions.

He has a master's degree. He has ideas about effective methods for education.

But he thinks publishing companies have more input on education policy than teachers.

"It’s almost like we’re last in the line of expertise and consultation," Hilliard says.

Textbooks are wonderful tools, he says, but teachers should be given broader discretion.

"I’m the mechanic, I get to choose the tool for the job. And obviously different jobs are going to demand different tools. But it's like I’m never recognized as being the master mechanic.”

When Hilliard was younger, he imagined himself making six figures by the time he was in his fifties. He's barely making half that after more than 16 years in public education. His pay was frozen during the Great Recession and — despite bumps since then — he has found it difficult to regain the lost ground.

In inflation-adjusted terms, American teacher salaries are almost 5 percent lower than they were a decade ago, according to The Economist.

“No teacher’s striking to cripple a system or make some crazy six-figure salary. We pretty much want what would be an average wage, not even a great wage," Hilliard says. "Just give us something average for our education and experience."

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What issues are most important to you this election year?

Guns in the schools by staff and not trained law enforcement. The Parkland incident was horrific, and it’s got us wagging the dog to the point where we’re no longer thinking with our academic brain, we’re thinking with our emotional brain. We’re more focusing on the perception of being safe than true measures of security.

I want to be able to see parents walking in and out of schools and not feel like they’re suspects. I want our schools to be schools. I don’t want them to be hardened military facilities.

Obviously, pay and benefits is a big issue. In more of a macro sense, I’m kind of tired of hearing people say "jobs." Yes, we want jobs, but people deserve jobs that they can live off of.

What's it been like watching teachers strike around the country?

Very uplifting, motivating. I think the most valuable part is that the communities are supporting the teachers. People are realizing, "Hey, you know what? These people are valuable in our community. They are going above and beyond. They are the silent partner in our family."

How do you feel about charter schools?

There are many, many really good charter schools that are meeting specific needs of communities that are not getting that recognition. Then you’re getting these huge charter school companies that are just going in and decimating a public school system.

When you think about the future of Florida, what worries you most?

No. 1 would probably be environment. We’re such a beautiful topography, geography, but I don't think we are good stewards of our lands.

What makes you hopeful about Florida's future?

We can still write our story. Nothing’s set in stone. We can make it as optimistic as we want. I love it here.

Florida Voices is a project of the USA TODAY Network-Florida, which includes FLORIDA TODAY, the Naples Daily News, The News-Press, the Pensacola News Journal, the Tallahassee Democrat and TCPalm.

Jonathan Hilliard

Age: 51

Occupation: Fourth-grade teacher at Apollo Elementary School in Titusville

Lives in: Port St. John

Election issues: Arming school staff, teacher pay and benefits, well-paying jobs