LEON COUNTY, Fla. — UPDATE (Aug. 28, 2020): A court victory this week for Florida's largest teachers' union was short-lived.
On Monday, a judge granted the Florida Education Association a temporary injunction against Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran's emergency order to reopen classrooms for in-person learning.
But, when the state appealed that decision, a stay was automatically put in place, meaning the judge's order was basically on hold until an appeals court heard the case. Then, on Thursday, Circuit Judge Charles Dodson agreed to lift the automatic stay, siding with the Florida Education Association again and letting his order stand until an appeal was heard.
Then, on Friday, an appeals court reversed that decision, putting the automatic stay back in place. In short: the state and teachers' union have landed right back where they started the week.
So what does that mean? A court sided with the union this week, removing some language from the state's emergency order and giving local districts more control to make their own health and safety decisions about reopening during the pandemic. But, since the state is appealing that decision, the order isn't in effect -- at least for now. Now, it will be up to an appeals court to decide whether the first judge's decision gets to stand.
Previous Story: Florida's largest teachers' union has been dealt another temporary victory in its battle over the state's plans for reopening schools from coronavirus closures.
On Monday, Circuit Judge Charles Dodson sided with the Florida Education Association and granted a temporary injunction against Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran's emergency order to reopen classrooms for in-person learning.
The order didn't mean schools would be closed, but it did hand more power back to local school boards, at least for now, to make their own safety decisions without the risk of losing state funding.
But, attorneys for Corcoran and Gov. Ron DeSantis filed an appeal in Tallahassee, which automatically put a stay on Judge Dodson's decision. Then, the union filed an emergency motion to vacate that automatic stay. And, Dodson agreed.
"Potential irreparable injury will be suffered by hundreds of thousands of school children, many teachers, and the community at large if the temporary injunction is stayed," Dodson wrote.
Therefore, the injunction will be fully in effect unless an appeals court says otherwise. And that means districts can make their own decisions about school reopening procedures, at least for now, based on the recommendations of health leaders in their areas.
“Once again, the state has been turned back in its attempts to bully our districts,” FEA President Fedrick Ingram wrote in a news release. “The judge clearly saw through the state’s arguments in his order today, but we have no doubt the efforts to silence educators and push a political agenda over safety will continue. We will continue to fight to protect the health and wellbeing of everyone in our schools, and to ensure that districts are free to make the best decisions for their communities when it comes to opening and keeping open physical classrooms and schools while the virus remains a threat.”
But, the state plans to continue its appeal.
“We will not stop fighting and firmly believe we’re in the right. This decision only creates greater confusion for the approximately one million students who have started in-person learning throughout 56 brick and mortar school districts, the nearly 100% of teachers who have joyfully come back to teach their students, and all the parents who made the choice of what was best for their child," Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran said. "We are immediately appealing this decision to the First DCA.”
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