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One of Florida\u2019s poorest counties is preparing for the new \u201cAirglades\u201d airport, a $300 million cargo hub that could transform its economy.<\/p>\n
Local leaders see the project as a generational opportunity, one that could bring more than 1,400 new, high-skilled jobs to their largely agricultural community at the edge of the Everglades. But to make good on its promise, the region\u2019s educators will have to overcome some harsh realities.<\/p>\n
A third of Hendry County\u2019s working-age adults lack a high-school diploma, while almost half speak a language other than English at home, among the highest in Florida. Before local leaders can prepare residents for jobs in engineering and manufacturing, educators must first help them earn their GEDs and learn English.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have some of God\u2019s most beautiful country that has never been touched by man,\u201d said Michael Swindle, the county schools superintendent, and yet \u201cby all the metrics you would judge a county on, we\u2019re either No. 1 or No. 2 in the ugly categories.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the airport project pursues approval, community groups and schools are working to fill teacher shortages and make investments in adult education<\/a>.<\/p>\n The challenges also include some political headwinds. Most of the county\u2019s workforce is Black and Latino. Efforts to tailor education to serve those demographic groups have drawn scrutiny in Florida, where politicians have\u00a0forbidden programs<\/a>\u00a0factoring race and national origin into people\u2019s treatment. Educators say the political context adds to the\u00a0difficulties in recruiting teachers<\/a>.<\/p>\n The plan to convert the small, county-owned airport to private ownership still has to win approval from the Federal Aviation Administration, which will depend partly on solidifying contracts with vendors in Latin America to prove its potential as a hub for perishable goods.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, two adult education centers in the county expanded with support from the FutureMakers Coalition, a community organization that has spearheaded education retraining efforts across southwest Florida. It also is paying for a counselor to help adults looking to develop new skills and change careers.<\/p>\n Spanish-speaking students have filled the adult education center in LaBelle, the 5,000-person county seat.<\/p>\n Many are working jobs or have kids at home, which has forced their instructor, Silvia Gullett, to get creative to meet their needs. She started a WhatsApp group so students could organize carpooling or split childcare duties. If students don\u2019t show up to class, Gullett texts them to figure out the problem. She doesn\u2019t settle for easy excuses.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the beginning, I had some students who didn\u2019t want to continue. I try to tell people that the only one who can stop them is themselves,\u201d said Gullett, who was born in Peru before starting her teaching career in Florida two decades ago.<\/p>\n At the country\u2019s other adult education center, in Clewiston, sparks fly as dozens of students in thick gloves and respirator masks work toward industrial certifications needed to enter the workforce. One of them, Samantha Garza, 21, initially studied child care at a community college in Fort Myers but pivoted after watching YouTube<\/a> videos about female welders.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m an artsy person, so I have more of a steady hand already, and I love to be down and dirty doing physical things, so I felt like this would be a career for me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Even before the airport arrives, there are still plenty of local employers waiting to hire the students. As current employees near retirement age, U.S. Sugar, the Clewiston-based farming giant, has such urgent needs it started an in-house welding program.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re trying to close that generation gap between mechanics and welders,\u201d said Nathan Hollis, an industrial skills trainer at the company.<\/p>\n Finding enough instructors to offer the training has been a challenge. Swindle had to recruit a U.S. Sugar worker to teach welding and coax a school bus mechanic out of retirement to lead the diesel mechanics program.<\/p>\n Still, the program has been so successful the county is using tuition revenue and donations to open another training facility in LaBelle focused on HVAC and plumbing.<\/p>\n There has been controversy around some efforts, including a slide on the topic of \u201cwhite privilege\u201d shown during a teacher training event led by FutureMakers. It sparked an outcry from conservative activists who accused organizers of racism, and a Republican city commissioner in LaBelle suggested it violated the \u201c\u00a0Stop WOKE Act<\/a>\u00a0\u201d signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican.<\/p>\n The political climate in Florida has made it difficult to attract K-12 teachers, according to Swindle. In a state where DeSantis has harnessed culture war passions in his education policies, Swindle said many of his teachers feel unsupported.<\/p>\n \u201cThe rhetoric around public education is horrible. It absolutely does hurt us,\u201d Swindle said.<\/p>\n