Broward Teachers Union President Anna Fusco says she is preparing to file a First Amendment lawsuit against School Board Chair Sarah Leonardi and others after security escorted her from a board meeting on Tuesday. The announcement came Wednesday.
A Public Clash Spills Into Court
According to WPLG Local 10, Fusco's planned lawsuit names Leonardi directly and rests on constitutional grounds tied to public comment rights at board meetings. The station reports that security escorted Fusco out of the meeting. Details of the exact legal filing have not been made public, but the station notes Fusco is moving forward with the case.
The flashpoint arrives amid a drawn-out standoff between the union and the district over pay and benefits. Contract negotiations between Broward County Public Schools and the teachers union reached a formal impasse in February after the two sides failed to resolve a dispute over increased employee health insurance costs, according to WLRN. District officials had proposed requiring employees to contribute toward health insurance.
A Budget That Skipped Raises
Those tensions were already simmering before Tuesday's meeting. Back in September, the Broward County School Board approved a $4.7 billion budget for the 2026–27 school year without a guaranteed teacher salary increase, leaving any raises contingent on a November property tax referendum. Union leaders strongly criticized board members at the time for passing a budget that skipped immediate raises for educators.
The pay fight carries extra weight given where Florida ranks nationally. Per 2025 National Education Association data, the state ranked 19th nationally in average starting teacher salary at $49,435, but fell to 50th nationwide in overall average teacher salary at $56,600 — well below the national average of $74,400, the data showed. Mid- and late-career educators in Florida have faced significant pay stagnation relative to local living costs, the figures indicate.
Enrollment Woes And School Closures
Pay isn't the only pressure point driving emotional public testimony at recent board meetings. In January, the district confronted roughly 60,000 empty student seats districtwide, prompting Superintendent Howard Hepburn to propose closing several underenrolled schools, the same outlet reported. The enrollment declines have pushed the district to consider consolidating campuses and eliminating administrative positions.
Florida's broader legal landscape has also made union operations harder. Under Senate Bill 256, enacted in 2023, public school unions face prohibitions on automatic payroll dues deductions and must maintain at least 60 percent dues-paying membership or face state recertification. The law imposes membership and dues-collection requirements on public school unions.
Years Of Political Turnover
The friction between the union and board leadership didn't start this year. Following a 2022 statewide grand jury report, Governor Ron DeSantis suspended four Broward School Board members and appointed conservative replacements, according to the Florida Trib, setting off years of board turnover and heightened political friction with union leadership. Board membership has shuffled repeatedly through subsequent elections and resignations since.
Financial scrutiny of the district has intensified as well. In January, board member Adam Cervera called for a full-scale review of district finances after DeSantis characterized the nation's sixth-largest school district as a financial disaster and suggested state receivership, WUSF reported. Board members defended district management while acknowledging budget strain.
The district has also been fighting for money owed on another front. In May, the school board voted unanimously to pursue legal action against the county tax collector's office after learning $5.6 million in voter-approved referendum funds for teacher pay and safety had been withheld as a commission fee, according to WLRN. The district argued the 2 percent collection violated historical standards.
A Union With A History Of Litigation
Fusco's planned suit would not be the union's first time taking the district to court. The Broward Teachers Union filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction to prevent medically vulnerable teachers from being forced back into in-person classrooms during the COVID-19 pandemic, as reported by CBS News.
NBC 6 South Florida reported that the union's newest legal move comes as the district braces for a pivotal November referendum vote that could determine whether teachers finally see the raises they've been demanding. Hoodline previously reported on the stalled raise tied to that same ballot measure, underscoring how deeply the pay dispute and this week's meeting fallout are intertwined.
