The Miami Herald is drawing criticism for an article published on Friday that critics claim incorrectly summarized remarks made by school choice advocate Erika Donalds. The article framed her comments on advancing classroom technology as stating that "teachers are the biggest impediment to tech in schools."

Donalds, wife of Florida Republican gubernatorial nominee Byron Donalds, pushed back against the framing. The Herald piece focused on remarks she made during a roundtable at the Ronald Reagan Institute in Washington, D.C., where she discussed challenges in adopting new educational tools.

In the reported comments, Donalds highlighted resistance from both underperforming teachers and experienced ones who have achieved strong results with traditional methods and are reluctant to introduce new methods into their teaching. She questioned scenarios where a tool showing better pilot outcomes in reading and math is rejected by a teacher, asking who holds authority in such cases.

"The biggest challenge I see with adopting these new technologies, and the desire to ban them, is great teachers who have been teaching the same way for a long time and getting great results, and who have to change their pedagogy if we adopt these technologies,” Donalds said in her roundtable remarks.

She noted that master teachers and mentors can be reluctant to change methods and pedagogy. Her framing emphasized how the uniformity and bureaucracy of the education system is slow to change and blamed them, not educators, as the true barriers to implementing growing technology for student use.

The article's headline and subhead emphasized teachers as the primary obstacle, which critics described as out of context.

"Teachers are not the blockade. Uniformity is," Donalds wrote in a response to the article on X.

The Miami Herald has faced similar scrutiny for selective reporting on Donalds' statements earlier this month. In a report on September 4, the media outlet omitted key context from her comments on balanced regulation of AI and teacher support during their coverage of a panel discussion Donalds had spoken at.

Social media users and conservative commentators quickly condemned the framing as another example of mainstream media outlets twisting statements from Republican-aligned figures on education policy. The backlash underscores ongoing tensions over how legacy publications cover debates on school technology, parental rights, and alternatives to traditional classroom models. Donalds has long advocated for expanded school choice, charter schools, and technological innovation to improve student outcomes, particularly for those without access to highly effective teachers.

This episode follows significant recent downsizing at the Miami Herald. On September 10, parent company McClatchy cut more than 30 editorial positions at the paper, representing over a third of its newsroom staff, as part of more than 90 job reductions across its publications nationwide.

A pattern of complaints from conservative figures regarding mainstream media coverage of education reform efforts in Florida.

No immediate response from the Miami Herald to the latest criticism was reported as of Saturday afternoon.