Candidate Profile: Angie Gallo

“I think a strong community comes from strong public schools. Public schools matter and opportunity matters. I believe without a strong infrastructure for public schools, we won’t continue to have a strong economy,” Angie Gallo said during her 80-second elevator pitch to voters at the African American Chamber of Commerce for Central Florida Hob Nob on June 30.  

Since 2018, Gallo, 58, has served as Orange County’s School Board Member for District 1, even pulling a stint as the board's vice chair in 2022. Now, she's running to succeed retiring School Board Chair and former Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs.

Gallo faces District 3 School Board member Alicia Farrant, also associated with Moms For Liberty, in the Aug. 18 election. Both Gallo and Farrant are Republicans, though the election is nonpartisan. School board members serve four-year terms and earn $56,587 annually. 

Gallo’s platform includes fair wages and health insurance benefits for teachers; safe schools with "diverse, age-appropriate books" and strong academics that prepare students for college, the military or the workforce; and a willingness to confront the challenges facing Orange County Public Schools today, from declining birthrates and school-choice voucher programs that drain funding from public schools to communicating with families and communities so that everyone feels they have a stake in public schools.

A longtime education proponent, Gallo advocated across the state for public education as president of the Florida School Boards Association. She also founded the nonprofit Parents and Educators Endorsing Public Schools and worked with legislators in Tallahassee on policy issues. She helped pass the Recess Bill, which mandated 20 minutes of daily recess for elementary school students; and the Baker Act Reform Bill, which revised procedures for court-ordered involuntary patient services and created the Office of Children’s Behavioral Health Ombudsman. An ombudsman is an advocate for children in need of mental health or addiction-related services. 

Gallo lives in Orlando with her husband Vince. They have two adult daughters.

Here, Gallo answered questions from VoxPopuli and the News Collaborative of Central Florida.

If elected, what are the three most pressing problems you want to address, and what do you suggest to solve them?

1. Student achievement is my top priority. It’s important to continue improving literacy outcomes, expanding academic support, and ensuring every student has access to high-quality instruction. I plan to continue supporting evidence-based practices, such as the science of reading, and strengthen early literacy programs. Additionally, I aim to conduct targeted, research-based interventions to help students succeed. We need to be less dependent on technology and put textbooks back in the classrooms.  I support a hybrid model of teaching.  We need to be at the forefront of AI literacy and continue to remove programs that don’t support student learning.  I believe that learning should be challenging and that students should graduate with critical thinking skills needed to compete in a global economy.

2. Recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers and staff is critical to student success. I will continue advocating for competitive compensation, professional development opportunities that serve the needs of our educators, and support policies that will attract and retain the best talent in our classrooms. When elected, I will lead the effort to ask Orange County voters for an additional .25 mil for teacher pay via referendum on the 2028 ballot.

3. Innovating public schools. We need to be more innovative in our approach to student learning.  We must meet students where they are and engage them in the classroom.  I support micro-schools, schools within school, co-ops, and more private-public partnerships that will increase student enrollment.  Public schools need to look more like the 2050 and less like 1950.

How should the district handle teacher shortages?

Teacher shortages cannot be solved with short-term fixes. They require a sustained commitment to making teaching a profession that talented people want to enter and experienced teachers want to stay in. Florida has ranked near the bottom nationally in average teacher pay, and districts across the state are competing for a shrinking pool of educators. If we want the best teachers in our classrooms, we must be willing to invest in their pay, benefits, and professional development.  

I will champion an additional .25 mil referendum in 2028 to let Orange County voters choose to improve compensation and benefits. I will work with higher education partners to create clear career pathways into the profession and expand teacher residency and mentorship programs. And finally, I will work with the Superintendent and School Board to reduce unnecessary administrative burdens on all our educators.

Florida ranked last for academic growth in reading. How would you improve that?

Improving reading outcomes requires a strong focus on early literacy, evidence-based instruction, and targeted support for struggling students. We must continue to invest in literacy coaches, intervention programs, and professional development while ensuring students receive the individualized support they need to become successful readers. We need more high-quality Pre-K’s in Orange County.  Our goal should be to put a full-day pre-K center at every school staffed by certified teachers; if we do that, research shows that our students’ literacy rates would greatly improve by 3rd grade.

What changes, if any, would you make to school safety policies?

School safety must remain a top priority. I support continuing our comprehensive approach that includes campus security measures, mental health resources, threat assessment teams, and strong partnerships with law enforcement by placing School Resource Officers (SROs) at all of our schools. Safety efforts should focus on prevention, preparedness, and student well-being. We need to advocate for better funding within the Florida Education Finance Plan (FEFP), as well as county and municipal budgets so that SROs are not partially unfunded mandates.

How should book challenges and library removals be handled?

Book challenges should follow established district policies that provide a transparent and consistent review process. Decisions should be based on educational value, age appropriateness, and professional review while ensuring parents, educators, and community members have a voice in the process.  With that said, we have much bigger challenges than the books in our Media Center.  Cultural wars have taken up too much time, and we need to focus on students, not political agendas.

What outside organizations or endorsements are supporting your campaign?

My campaign is proud to be supported by educators, parents, community leaders, and organizations that value strong public schools. Endorsements include the Orange County Teachers Association, Florida Education Association, Equality Florida Action PAC, Ruth’s List Florida, and Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate Distinction.  I am also proud to have received bipartisan support from most of the Orange County legislative delegation, county and municipal elected officials, and former and current Orange County School Board Members.  A complete list of my endorsements can be found on my website VoteAngieGallo.com.

If elected, what policy would you try to pass in your first year?

One of my priorities would be strengthening teacher recruitment and retention efforts by increasing teacher pay. Every student deserves access to excellent educators, and ensuring we can attract and retain high-quality teachers is essential to the long term success of Orange County Public Schools.  I will work on reducing screen time in our schools and removing barriers that do not serve student outcomes. I will continue to work on attainable housing and affordable daycare for our educators. We have to tackle the high cost of healthcare, and I am committed to continuing to reduce those costs.

‍How do you plan to address declining public school enrollment?

The first thing that we have to do is be innovative in our approach to get students back. Kids don’t want to be in the classroom six-and-a-half hours a day. They want us to meet them where they are. So that means more flexibility in our school day. That could look like schools within a school, more public/private partnerships. We need to create an environment that engages kids and brings them back by offering the stuff that kids are interested in, whether that’s through our Career and Technical Education program or creating a microschool like we’re doing with the softball baseball magnet. 

What are your thoughts on voucher programs and how would you ensure those students in those programs receive a quality education when not every school is accredited?

Any entity that is given taxpayer dollars should have three absolute non-negotiables. I call it an education standard of care. 

First thing, is that child safe? Second, is that child learning? Is it a curriculum that meets the standards of Florida? How are they learning? How are we measuring their learning? Third is transparency for those taxpayer dollars. They have to be transparent. They need to be accredited and there has to be accountability attached to any entity that is receiving taxpayer funded vouchers. 

We need laws passed in Tallahassee that would legislate that accountability. I am a big proponent for student authentication numbers… Anybody who gets money through Step Up for Students or any scholarship funding organization [should have] a student authentication number attached to that. Whether they’re in a public school or a private school, a charter school or a homeschool setting, they [should have] a number and we [should] know where they are at all times.

I also think that when homeschool students take the norm-referenced test, which they are required to do if they’re taking voucher money, they need to be on grade level… We don’t have a true sense of what these homeschool students are learning. I do support choice, but I support accountability with that choice and we need to know that they’re learning.

If you have a kid that’s in first grade and they’re homeschooling and you’re showing that they’re making learning games and they’re doing well, that’s awesome. But, if that kid that’s in first grade is 10 years old, that's a problem. We need to make sure that the grade they’re in is appropriate to the age that they are.”

What are your thoughts on charter schools being able to take space in public schools with the schools of hope designation?

Everybody needs to pay their fair share. I think if we have a school that's under-enrolled and we've already closed seven schools, I think that anybody that is coming into one of our buildings needs to pay their fair share to be in that building. I have a lot of questions about security, about discipline, about how that will look within our public schools and we need to ensure that our students remain safe, our students aren't disrupted by the Schools of Hope, and anybody moving in our building needs to pay to be there.

What plans do you have to harden schools against gun violence?

Schools are still one of the safest places for students to be. I get that they’re being targeted because you can do a lot of damage, but I will say that OCPS is doing an excellent job of hardening our schools, of keeping kids safe, of keeping predators out.

The biggest change that I’ve been working on for the last 10 years is really gun reform legislation. I think we need to get to the root of the problem, and the root of our problem is our red flag laws need to be more stringent. People that have mental health issues should not be allowed to get their hands on a gun. 

We need sensible gun legislation. Hardening schools is great, and we have to do that because every child deserves to be safe on our campus. I support school resource officers on our campus, but at some point we’ve got to look at the real issue. We’re spending millions of dollars hardening our schools, and the legislators refuse to look at the root cause.

Going back to the topic of SROs, in smaller cities like Winter Garden, Ocoee, Apopka, they don’t have the same budget that Orlando does. Where would you stand on the school board assuming financial responsibility for funding those SROs in the smaller cities?

“We’re funding more SROs than we ever have before. I think we have a three-year contract now, and every contract year we’re paying more and more. We spent $16 million more on safety and security, including SROs, than the state gives us. We have one pot of money, so that $16 million that goes to support our safety measures and mostly SROs, that’s money that doesn’t go into teacher raises or staff raises. That’s money that doesn’t go into the classroom.

I’m very concerned about the property tax and what that will mean for our small municipalities, because I think they’re going to get hit the hardest with this property tax reform if it’s passed by the taxpayers. I think we’re going to have to look hard and make some difficult decisions on what we’re going to do.

I 100 percent support SROs in our facilities, but I think the property tax is going to make that difficult and that it’s going to be incumbent upon Tallahassee to shore up those gaps in funding so that we can keep SROs in our classrooms.”

What are your thoughts on how AI should be used or taught in schools?

“I think we need a concrete policy on what AI looks like for students and what AI looks like for adults. I have no issues with using AI as a production tool … I think it’s very productive in the workforce, and I think that kids coming out of high school need to have AI literacy, because 60 percent of the jobs out there are going to require AI literacy. 

But AI should not be used as an education tool. They need to have the critical thinking skills, they need to have the skills they need to be successful, before they use AI as a production tool. I’m fine with using it for research, but they need to know what to plug in because you get a lot of phantom answers from AI and you need to know is that a valid answer?

I also think we need to reduce our dependency on one-to-one devices. We need to go back to textbooks, especially in elementary and middle school, and I think that is separate from AI. We need to teach AI literacy, but I think we need to move back to more of a hybrid model of textbooks and computer time. Kids just spend so much time on digital devices and it’s made learning too easy and again, learning needs to be challenging so it sticks and they gain that critical thinking.”

You mentioned teacher salaries earlier, obviously that’s a big concern along with health insurance for teachers. How would you plan to address those concerns?

“I think we need to blow up our healthcare system. I think if we keep doing what we’re doing right now, I’m not certain that we’ll be able to control the cost unless the legislators step in, because healthcare is becoming extremely unaffordable in Florida. I’m committed to looking for ways to save money, to bring in private companies that will help us do that. Look at the Rosen model, to do anything we can do to provide a high quality healthcare system that is affordable for employees. That’s a long term goal.

In the meantime, we need to figure out ways to pay our teachers more. I’m committed to putting a .25 mill on the 2028 ballot as a referendum that would go strictly to teacher and classified pay supplements. We are dead last in the nation for teacher pay, and I’m becoming more and more convinced every year that we can’t rely on Tallahassee to pay our teachers well.”

How would you continue to attract teachers into Orange County?

I think the pay is one of the biggest things. One of the other things that I’m hearing is really just autonomy in the classroom. When you can’t pay teachers what they’re worth, which nobody in Florida really is, then you got to focus on things you can control: Increasing morale, increasing autonomy, making sure we’re not placing unnecessary burdens on our teachers, and our educators, our classifieds. We need to make sure that we’re doing everything we can, so they can focus on their one job, which is to educate our students. But we’re going to have to find money for them because it’s so unaffordable here in Orange County.

Epidemiologists tell us it’s not a matter of if, but when the next pandemic will occur. What are your views on vaccine mandates and masks for public health? 

I’m here, first and foremost, to represent my community. During COVID, it was very clear that 80 percent of my constituents wanted masks in our schools. So I’m a big believer of listening to my constituents and not pushing my agenda onto the voters. They’re the ones who elect me, number one. 

Number two, I’m always going to follow the science. I did last time. We had a medical board committee that we put together. They told us essentially that if we wanted to curb an outbreak this is what we needed to do, and we did our best to listen to them. 

As far as vaccines go, if somebody wants to get the COVID shot or not get the COVID shot, I believe that’s a personal decision. I feel differently about childhood vaccines, so I just want to make that distinction. Because I think when you get the COVID vaccine, don’t get the COVID vaccine, you’re just hurting yourself… But when it comes to childhood vaccines, with the safety of the entire population, so that we do get that herd immunity that we need in our schools, I do support childhood vaccines for students.

What are your thoughts on religion in the classroom, such as putting the 10 Commandments on a wall?

“No, I’m not for it. You know, I’m a Catholic and I have a strong relationship with Jesus, with God, but that’s my personal choice. I don’t think that religion has any place in our classroom.

We’ve heard from the Moms for Liberty and that side, that they “don’t co-parent with the government.” If you don’t co-parent with the government, why do you want religion in the classroom? Why do you want us to be talking about a religion that may not be your religion?

I just think that’s a parent’s individual choice. We can teach about all different religions, but if they want that spiritualness in their life, then they should go to church after school or go to church on Sunday. We’re here to educate [students] and to make sure they’re successful in the workforce when they get out of our schools. Their faith and their religion, that’s up to the parents.