Teens shouldn’t be asked to solve labor shortage

Last year, the Florida Legislature passed SB 1718, resulting in undocumented workers moving out of the state. Now Florida has a labor shortage and the Legislature is trying to solve this problem by replacing those workers with 16- and 17-yearold students. Florida House Bill 49 would allow students to work 40 hours a week, including overnight shifts, and without breaks. Senate Bill 460 would allow them to work on a roof or scaffolding, supervised by a 21-year-old with minimal credentials. SB 460 also requires school districts to allow employers from the agricultural, construction, culinary and nursing industries to meet with all students to explain how career and technical education can result in a high-wage career. This is obviously a thinly veiled attempt to recruit students to work in those businesses.

These bills ask teenagers to solve the labor shortage.

Research reveals that students from economically disadvantaged families dominate the 16-to-18-year-old workforce and are at the greatest risk of dropping out of high school. Allowing students as young as 16 to work full-time, at night, six days a week and without breaks should be the exception. How will this support our students to graduate and discover their pathway to a well-paying future career?

Urge your legislators to vote “no” on HB 49 and to remove the unsafe work activities contained in SB 460. Tell them not to place the labor shortage on the shoulders of our students.

Robin Dehlinger

Longwood

Robin Dehlinger is the education committee chair for the League of Women Voters of Seminole County.