Anna Fusco, the president of the Broward Teachers Union, blamed Florida’s new “anti-union” legislation for requiring an election as part of the certification process.

Broward County Public Schools and the Broward Teachers Union reached a wage agreement that includes pay increases for teachers.

On the latest episode of This Week in South Florida, host Glenna Milberg welcomes Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, insurance expert Lisa Miller, and Broward Teachers Union President Anna Fusco.

There are only two weeks until the school year starts in South Florida.

On the latest episode of the This Week in South Florida podcast, hosts Michael Putney and Glenna Milberg speak to Sen. Rick Scott, Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo and Miami attorney Loreal Arscott.

On the latest episode of the This Week in South Florida podcast, hosts Michaael Putney and Glenna Milberg are joined by State Rep. Robin Bartleman, State Rep. David Borrero, Everglades Foundation President Erik Eikenberg and Florida City Mayor Otis Wallace.

On the latest episode of the This Week in South Florida podcast, hosts Michael Putney and Glenna Milberg welcome new Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Jose Dotres, new Broward Schools Superintendent Vickie Cartwright, President of the United Teachers of Dade Karla Hernandez Mats and Anna Fusco is president of the Broward Teachers Union, and Michael Womack of Equality Florida.

Broward County Public Schools teachers and classroom assistants will receive what school leaders call a necessary raise to their salaries or hourly pay after a unanimous school board vote Friday.

On the latest episode of the This Week in South Florida podcast, hosts Michael Putney and Glenna Milberg are joined by newly elected Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, President and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Miami T. Wilard Fair, Broward Teachers' Union President Anna Fusco and Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantails.

On the latest episode of the This Week in South Florida podcast, host Michael Putney is joined by Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, congressional candidate Jason Mariner, state Senator Jason Pizzo, state Rep. Tom Fabricio and gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist.

On the latest episode of the This Week in South Florida podcast, host Michael Putney is joined by Dr. Geeta Nayyar, Miami-Dade School Board Vice Chair Dr. Steve Gallon, Miami Herald editorial page editor Nancy Ancrum and Sun Sentinel editorial page editor Steve Bousquet.

On the latest episode of This Week in South Florida, host Michael Putney is joined by infectious disease expert Dr. Aileen Marty, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, Broward Teachers Union President Anna Fusco and retired educator and author Dr. Marvin Dunn.

The Broward school system is taking the threat very seriously.

Broward County Public Schools’ employees who are age 18 or older are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine this week at the T.Y. The last day for Broward school employees to make COVID vaccine appointments is Friday. State sites are only accepting school employees who are age 50 or older. As of Monday, FDOH reported 2,370,198 had completed the COVID-19 vaccine series in Florida, including 203,829 in Broward County and 258,271 in Miami-Dade County. Broward reportFlorida Department of Health (Copyright 2020 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.)

The Broward Teachers Union put up two billboards to bring awareness of their disagreement with school superintendent over forcing teachers back to the classroom who may be at risk for COVID-19. BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – They are continuing their fight against Broward Superintendent Robert Runcie’s directive that all teachers must be back in the classroom. As a follow up with their delivery of thousands of pairs of flip flops to community and business leaders earlier this week, the Broward Teachers Union posted two billboards that asks the question: “School Superintendent Robert Runcie? AdAccording to the superintendent, Broward Schools has allowed more than 600 teachers with underlying health issues to remain teaching online. The billboards point drivers to sign a petition at protectourteachers.net that asks the superintendent to protect medically high risk teachers by continuing to let them teach from home.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Principals at all Broward County public schools must meet with union representatives to explain the reasoning behind the denial of remote work extensions to vulnerable teachers, an arbitrator ruled. Arbitrator Roger I. Abrams issued a supplemental ruling on Wednesday that applies to 226 schools, departments, and centers in the BCPS system. The principals exercised their right to grant or deny remote assignments, and the meetings between principals and union representatives are meant to make sure that the remote work assignments were not granted or denied “in an arbitrary and capricious manner.”AdAnna Fusco, the BTU president, has accused Broward Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie of not doing enough to protect teachers who are at risk of dying of COVID-19. “The less than 10% of educators who are the most vulnerable to COVID-19 must be protected,” Fusco said. “With only about 27% of students back in the buildings, there is no reason this can’t be accomplished.”

PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – On the latest episode of This Week in South Florida hosts Michael Putney and Glenna Milberg are joined by Broward Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie, Broward Teachers Union president Anna Fusco, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, South Florida medical professional Dr. Hansel Tookes and attorneys Melba Pearson and Rafael Yaniz. The full episode can be viewed at the top of this page.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Broward Schools may require teachers to return to their classrooms to meet the operational needs of schools, an arbitrator ordered Monday. For weeks, the Broward School District and the Broward Teachers Union have been dueling over how to move forward. The arbitration hearing was held Jan. 21-23, following a Jan. 7 lawsuit the Broward Teachers Union filed on behalf of 1,700 teachers who the district granted accommodations to continue working remotely because of serious underlying health conditions. “It is not within the Arbitrator’s power to decide whether it is a good idea or a bad idea to have teachers return to their classrooms, said Arbitrator Roger Abrams. “Principals must now provide documents justifying their decisions,” Broward Teachers Union President Anna Fusco said.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – In Broward County, more than 70 teachers have decided to quit or retire. The three-page list is part of Wednesday’s school board agenda and comes as the Broward Teachers Union speaks out against what they say is a relaxation of social distancing measures in the county’s public schools. Also on Tuesday, Broward Teachers Union President Anna Fusco said educators fear returning to physical classrooms, especially for those teachers who have critical illnesses. You can watch replays of both news conferences below:Broward teachers speak out on relaxed social distancing rules Broward Teachers Union President Anna Fusco is holding a news conference to express “outrage and grave concerns” over what the union says are relaxed social distancing guidelines at the county’s public schools. It comes minutes after the teachers' union held a press conference sharing concerns about a lack of social distancing at schools.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – More than a thousand Broward County teachers who have been working from home during the pandemic were to return to the physical classroom on Monday morning, days after the Broward Teachers Union filed a lawsuit to try and stop the move. The suit was filed by the BTU when the school district announced it would no longer accommodate 1,700 teachers who were working from home because of underlying conditions or concerns about exposure to COVID-19. On Friday, Superintendent Robert Runcie said the district has been working for weeks on extending accommodations to teachers. Broward School District Superintendent Robert Runcie said the district expects up to 50 percent of students to return to the classroom in the second semester which starts Monday. “I don’t believe the everyday operation of every school needs 100 percent of teachers on campus,” Fusco said.

BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – Time is running out for hundreds of teachers in Broward County. Broward Teachers Union President Anna Fusco held a press conference Thursday , where she announced BTU filed a lawsuit against Broward Schools in response to a decision by the Broward School District to end the special work-from-home accommodations for teachers and support staff with serious medical conditions. I would say they’re probably safer than going to the grocery store or to the mall,” Broward Superintendent Robert Runcie said. Parents whose children are in Broward County School District are still able to choose between online learning or having them go back to school in the classroom. Citing no clear-cut plan by the school district, Fusco said time is running out.

PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – Joining This Week in South Florida are Karla Hernandez-Mats, who represents United Teachers of Dade, Anna Fusco heads the Broward Teachers Union, past president of the Miami-Dade Parent Teacher Association Joe Gebara, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Broward State Attorney candidate Gregg Rossman, FIU professor of politics Kathryn DePalo-Gould and Barry University political science professor Sean Forman. The full episode can be seen at the top of this page.

BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – The Broward County School Board voted unanimously on Thursday to start the gradual reopening of schoolhouses on Oct. 9. School Board members decided not to reopen schoolhouses on Monday, as Miami-Dade County Public Schools is planning on doing. Before the vote, Broward County Superintendent Robert Runcie told school board members there was a significant amount of funding on the table if they didn’t start the staggered reopenening on Oct. 9. The union had opposed the originally planned Oct. 14 reopening day. BTU President Anna Fusco said teachers were asking school board members not to cave to political pressure coming from Gov.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – It’s the first time in months that the Broward County School Board meets in person. Pre-K through 1st grade, grades six and nine, as well as ESE students, would return in clusters on Oct. 14, 15 and 16. Runcie’s comments can be seen in the video below:Runcie 9/22 WATCH LIVE: Broward Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie discusses return to school plan. Patricia Good, the school board member that represents District 2, told Runcie that he needs to deal with external pressures to reopen. Lori Alhadeff, a school board member who represents District 4, was concerned about the strategies that are being implemented to avoid crowding in the hallways between classes and during recess.

PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – Congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel Powell, Broward Teachers Union president Anna Fusco, United Teachers of Dade president Karla Hernandez-Matz, Carlos Lopez-Cantera and Burnadette Norris-Weeks join This Week in South Florida. The full episode can be seen at the top of this page.

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – United Teachers of Dade and the Broward Teachers Union representatives accused state and school district authorities on Wednesday of negligence and recklessness for rushing to reopen schools without investing in the implementation of safety measures during the coronavirus pandemic. But according to Miami-Dade School District officials, no matter when schools reopen, a July 6 executive order guaranteed funding for the fall semester. Daisy Gonzalez-Diego, a spokeswoman for Miami-Dade Public Schools, said the district is following national and state health guidance to ensure that schools are sanitized and well maintained. Broward County Public Schools' office of communication released a statement saying the health and safety of students and staff is the district’s main priority. The union representatives remain skeptical and they are asking teachers and staff to use “#SafeSchoolsSFL” on social media to highlight safety issues.

BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. Broward County Public Schools are hoping to reopen to in-person learning sometime in October, as long as the downward trend in COVID-19 cases in the county continues, Superintendent Robert Runcie said Tuesday. The school district has been advocating for state and federal funding to assist with that effort. The school district and the Broward Teachers Union have also reached a tentative agreement that will provide all employees in the BTU-EP unit a salary increase, and all employees in the BTU-ESP unit with a referendum supplement. Considerations to reopening schoolsRuncie said there are four key variables they are monitoring which impacts when schools can reopen for onsite instruction:1. In Broward County, Runcie says there has been a sustained downward trend of cases over the last 14 days, which is promising, but community behavior remains a variable.

PLANTATION, Fla. – Dozens of Broward Teachers Union members met on Tuesday at Plantation High School to demand a raise. They wore blue T-Shirts and carried signs: “How can we put students first if you put teachers last?” and “We teach the future. Let that sink in.”The teachers are asking the Broward County School Board for a 5% raise. Anna Fusco, the BTU president, said upper management and district personnel are passing around the responsibility of responding to their demands. They made their presence known during a Tuesday afternoon School Board Hearing.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – On Wednesday, Broward County School District officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to unveil a new classroom building at Flanagan High School in Pembroke Pines. The teachers rallied throughout Broward County claiming the district hasn’t properly used hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money earmarked for school, leading to rundown schools and bad working conditions. “We want our schools clean, we want our schools safe, we want our schools taken care of,” said Broward Teachers Union President, Anna Fusco. Broward County Public School Superintendent Robert Runcie said he challenges that narrative and tells Local 10 that schools across the district are seeing improvements. Broward Schools Superintendent Robert RuncieRight now, those negotiations are at an impasse and both sides will go to a hearing in a few weeks to determine what will happen.