Below is gubernatorial candidate Mayor Andrew Gillum's platform policy in regards to education in Florida:

Andrew believes a quality, public education is still the best path to equal opportunity, but that Florida’s education reform has been a failure. Our education system and its over-reliance on high-stakes testing has failed our children, our parents, our teachers and our state. He has proposed a $1 billion investment in our public schools, students, and teachers to boost early childhood education, raise teachers’ starting salaries to $50,000, restore public school construction funds, and increase SHOP 2.0 vocational training. He also proposed the legalization and taxation of marijuana to generate badly-needed revenue so that all Florida teachers and staff can receive a pay raise up to the national average, veteran teachers can be compensated for their years of service, and so we can raise teachers’ starting salaries.

Andrew believes that instead of demonizing our teachers, we should be supporting them and paying them fairly to do one of the most difficult jobs on Earth — to mold, shape, and develop humanity. Teachers have earned a raise, and Andrew is the only candidate with a plan to achieve that.

As Governor, Andrew would work to rebuild Florida’s education system so that we can make sure our kids are ready for Kindergarten earlier. By third grade, 100% of kids in our state should be reading at grade level and as they progress, learning critical thinking skills to compete.

When our children graduate from high school they should have access to training for a career or a college education that won’t leave them with crippling debt. As Governor, Andrew would focus on making college debt free and encouraging businesses to share responsibility for educating the workforce they want to hire.

We need to invest in “SHOP 2.0” — a revitalization of vocational training in our public schools. We must integrate computer education into all of our vocational programs so that students can learn the skills they need to build a career and support a family.

Andrew’s strongly opposed to unaccountable, for-profit charter schools who want to use public dollars to enrich their executives.