Florida teachers stage 'walk-in' protest to push for more funding

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. (FOX 35 ORLANDO) - Thousands of teachers across the state protested on Wednesday, not by walking out, but by walking in to school.

Teachers, parents, students and school administrators are joining forces to shed light on the need for more funding for public education.

In Brevard County, about 1,000 people plan on walking-in today. Legally, teachers can't strike in Florida, so they're staging a walk-in at schools across the state.

The Brevard Federation of Teachers helped organize the event for 25 schools in Brevard County.

"Our community wants to see more mental health programs, more stem programs and more vocational programs," said Anthony Colucci, Brevard Federation of Teachers president. "In order to accomplish that, we need more funding."

They're asking everyone who comes out to sign a petition asking the Florida legislature to increase per-student education funding by 10 percent to $743 dollars per student.

Some Brevard School board members don't support the walk-in though.

"I'm really happy for the teachers and i support them wanting to air their frustration publicly, but i find that it's more effective to meet one-on-one with our legislators," said Brevard County School Board Chairman Tina Descovich, 

Thousands of people at 300 schools across the state participated in the walk-in.