Our Full Proposal for the Student Success Agenda

A Lifetime in Florida Public Education

Allen Spence is a product of Florida public education, graduating from Fort Myers High School and the University of South Florida. The education he received helped him build a career, raise a family, and put down roots in Southwest Florida.

Today, Spence sees Florida's education challenges not only as a former student but as a parent. His son attends a public charter school in Charlotte County because the nearest traditional public school would require an impractical daily commute. Yet even with that choice, his family has faced significant challenges. During a single school year, seven of his son's nine teachers left before the end of the academic year, forcing his family to rely on Florida Virtual School to supplement disrupted coursework for the second year in a row.

As teacher shortages and turnover continue to affect student learning, Spence and his wife have even considered enrolling their son in Florida Virtual School full-time rather than navigating ongoing classroom instability. These experiences have given Spence firsthand insight into the difficult decisions many Florida parents face when balancing school quality, access, safety, and academic opportunity.

Spence understands that parents want more than options. They want schools that are stable, accountable, transparent, and capable of helping every child succeed.

The Problem

Florida’s eighth graders are reading at their lowest level in 25 years, and the state ranks last nationwide for reading recovery. But this crisis goes far beyond test scores. Too many students are falling behind, too many teachers are leaving the profession, and too many parents feel shut out of their children’s education.

At the same time, concerns about school safety continue to affect students, families, and educators. Students learn best in environments where they feel safe, supported, and able to focus on their education. Florida must improve academic outcomes while ensuring every school remains a secure place to learn and grow.

Goals

Florida students should graduate prepared not just to pass exams, but to build stable, successful lives. Florida families deserve schools that are safe, supportive, and focused on student success.

Our Student Success Agenda offers practical solutions to strengthen classrooms, improve school safety, support parents, attract and retain great teachers, and give every student a real path to success. That is the standard we should expect from our education system, and Allen Spence will fight for just that.

Key Pillars

1. Put Children First

2. Support Educators

3. Empower Parents

4. Prepare Students for the Future

5. Foster Community Involvement

For Children

• Guarantee free school meals for every student and strengthen partnerships with local farmers, so schools can provide healthy food while supporting Florida’s economy.

• Protect students with disabilities and those facing academic challenges by streamlining IEP and 504 plan processes, minimizing delays, and ensuring families can access support promptly.

  • Increase staffing and simplify the special education process for families, such as evaluations, accommodations, and appeals.

• Uphold age-appropriate curriculum standards based on literacy, math, civics, science, and critical thinking.

• Ensure schools remain safe for children to learn and grow by keeping immigration enforcement actions out of schools.

  
  

For Educators

• Provide a $10,000 Annual Teacher Retention Bonus to help schools retain experienced educators, reduce costly turnover, and provide greater stability for students.

• Strengthen tenure, due process, and workplace protections so good teachers are treated fairly.

• Increase compensation and classroom resources for special education teachers and staff.

• Expand continuing education opportunities in emerging technologies, including AI literacy, classroom tools, academic integrity, and student data protection.

For Parents

• Enhance parental transparency by providing easier access to course materials, major assignments, and curriculum expectations.

• Protect meaningful parental input through regular family-school meetings, responsive communication, and clearer procedures for raising academic or student-support concerns.

  • Promote greater uniformity in parent-school communication systems across public schools. While many schools use platforms such as ClassDojo, Focus, and Canvas, a more consistent approach would reduce confusion, improve access, and help families stay connected when students change schools or districts.

• Expand curriculum support and oversight resources for homeschooling families so parents can access improved tools without sacrificing flexibility.

  • Offer optional state-aligned curriculum guidance, tutoring resources, and college-readiness planning tools for homeschooling.

  • Maintain fair accountability standards so that all students receive a high-quality education, regardless of their learning environment.

• Protect religious freedom in schools so students can freely express their beliefs without facing discrimination, and families can trust that schools will uphold constitutional rights.

College, Workforce, & the Future

Our plan prepares students for an AI-driven economy by expanding computer science, digital literacy, and AI-readiness from middle school through college. It strengthens career pathways and employer partnerships, so graduates can enter high-demand fields without unsustainable debt. It also builds understanding of AI’s costs and benefits while expanding workforce development and loan forgiveness in critical sectors such as education, healthcare, trades, clean energy, and AI infrastructure.

Put An End to School Shootings

• Strengthen the Students, Teachers, and Officers Preventing (STOP) School Violence Act to fund security resource officers (SROs), engage communities through anonymous tip lines like FortifyFL, train local police departments in school-shooting response, and make school counselors and other mental health support accessible to every child. 

• Elevate youth mentorship and employment programs, such as UnidosNow and Healthy Teens, in high-risk communities to reduce violence by expanding opportunity.

Accountability & Community

No more federal funding for “Schools of Hope” models that divert resources without delivering accountability, transparency, or consistent results. Funding will instead strengthen public schools, improve intervention systems, and support struggling campuses before students fall through the cracks. It preserves local flexibility while maintaining clear academic standards and measuring success through student learning, school climate, and long-term opportunity.

Funding

Our Student Success Agenda is built on a simple belief: Every child deserves access to a quality public education.

Instead of spending taxpayer dollars on ICE and CBP operations, detention facilities, and “Schools of Hope,” we should invest in our classrooms. That means giving schools the resources they need to retain great teachers, support students, and expand educational opportunities for the future.

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