News
By Liv Caputo, The Floridian
06-10-24
HIALEAH, FL—As Florida languishes at the near worst-in-the-nation spot for teacher pay, Governor Ron DeSantis slams teacher unions while taking action—announcing Monday that he will approve $1.25 billion in the state budget toward teacher salary increases.
“This is an increase of close to a quarter of a billion dollars in funding over the previous years…and that brings our total investment in teacher pay increases to $4.6 billion since 2020,” DeSantis said at a Hialeah press conference Monday morning.
He lauded Florida’s recent ranking as number one in the nation for education—due to low in-state tuition and college readiness— though notably failed to mention the National Education Association’s May finding that Florida ranks 50th for average teacher pay nationwide.
While DeSantis pointed out that Florida teacher salaries have increased from around $39,000 to around $48,000 in five years, spiked inflation has led teachers to actually be making 5% less than they did ten years ago, the report found.
The billion-dollar budget item, meanwhile, which has yet to be signed before its July 1st effective date, stresses that the money can only go toward teacher pay. Why? DeSantis worries teacher unions are not properly distributing funds toward teachers, pointing out that the president of the state’s largest union, the Florida Education Association, makes nearly $400,000.
Read the full article here: DeSantis Slams “Left-Wing” Unions, Pledges Billions to Address Florida’s Teacher Pay Crisis · The Floridian (floridianpress.com)
