featured-image

LaBELLE, Fla. -- One of Florida's poorest counties is preparing for the new "Airglades" airport, a $300 million cargo hub that area leaders see as a generational opportunity. The project could bring more than 1,400 new, high-skilled jobs to their largely agricultural community at the edge of the Everglades.

But to make good on its promise, the region's educators will have a lot to overcome. A third of Hendry County's working-age adults lack a high-school diploma, while almost half speak a language other than English at home, among the highest in Florida. Before area leaders can prepare residents for jobs in engineering and manufacturing, educators must first help them earn their GEDs and learn English.



"We have some of God's most beautiful country that has never been touched by man," said Michael Swindle, the county school superintendent, and yet "by all the metrics you would judge a county on, we're either No. 1 or No. 2 in the ugly categories.

" As the airport project pursues approval, community groups and schools are working to fill teacher shortages and make investments in adult education. The challenges also include some political headwinds. Most of the county's workforce is Black and Latino.

Efforts to tailor education to serve those demographic groups have drawn scrutiny in Florida, where politicians have forbidden programs factoring race and national origin into people's treatment. Educators say the political context adds to the difficulties in recruiting teachers. PUB.

Back to Beauty Page