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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Approves $500 Million For Teacher Pay Raises
June 25, 2020
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday signed legislation to give Florida teachers a raise.
Approximately 100,000 teachers will benefit from $400 million to be invested to raise the minimum base pay for full-time classroom teachers, and $100 million will raise the salaries of Florida’s veteran teachers and other instructional personnel. This historic increase puts Florida among the best states in the nation for minimum teacher pay in an effort to alleviate a teacher shortage.
Florida will move from 26th into the top five for minimum teacher salaries. It does not apply to support staff or substitute teachers.
The plan will also replace the Best and Brightest bonus program as it provides $100 million in extra pay for teachers making already making more than the set minimum. The Florida Legislature will also have to address pay raises annually under the proposal.
“COVID-19 has interrupted our students’ and teachers’ academic year in unprecedented ways,” said DeSantis. “Our teachers stepped up and found ways to keep our students learning and engaged these last few months to ensure students continued to receive the best education in the nation. They taught classes virtually; they made sure lesson materials were delivered; they committed to their students. Great teachers are what our students need as they re-enter the classroom in the fall, and that’s why this remained a major priority in our budget. Florida was previously 26th in the nation for teacher pay and this announcement puts us in the top five, an over 20 spot jump in one year that reflects an historic investment in teacher compensation.”
DeSantis is expected to trim somewhere between several hundred million to $1 billion from the budget due to COVID-19 shortfalls, including some of his own funding priorities.
Who Benefits:
- Step 1: Full-time classroom teachers (s. 1012.01(2)(a), F.S.) plus certified pre-K teachers funded in the FEFP (not including substitute teachers)
- Step 2: Group from Step 1 who did not receive an increase or increase was less than 2%, and other full-time instructional personnel (not including substitute teachers) (s. 1012.01(2)(b)-(d), F.S.)
How Funds Are Distributed
- These funds must be used solely to increase teacher salaries and no collective bargaining agreement can alter this requirement.
- Step 1: Requires school districts and charters to use $400 million to increase the salaries of all full-time school instructional classroom teachers to at least $47,500 or the maximum amount achievable based on the district’s allocation.
- Step 2: Requires school districts and charters to use $100 million to provide salary increases of the group from Step 1 who did not receive an increase or received an increase of less than 2%, and other full-time instructional personnel.
Pictured: Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation that will give Florida teachers a raise on Wednesday at Mater Academy Charter School in Hialeah Gardens. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Comments
22 Responses to “Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Approves $500 Million For Teacher Pay Raises”
So this plan in 2020 gives a starting fee of 47 thousand for veterans teachers. So by 2022 there should be a raise? Florida has always been behind in pay and style. So we now in 2022 Florida should have a union. To help fight for there teachers. There are more families moving in Florida the state needs to keep up! If you have great teachers you have great students to become great citizens.
Good luck hiring teachers right now at any salary!
REGARDING:
“It takes $1.54 to purchase what a $1.00 did in 1999.”
So, how much did a Chromebook, smartphone, LED bulb, or Tesla cost in 1999?
David for the incomparable
CONSIDERING:
“If someone gave you a million dollars, they could have given you a billion.”
It WOULD be nice. Strange that nobody’s offered either.
David for acceptance
I hate this plan..I know teachers that have 20 years experience and are certified in ESE and special needs students and have a masters degree and only make 52k a year. Now some 22 year old with a basic bachelors can get hired and make nearly the same pay as that long term experienced teacher. While it is great for new teachers it completely ignores teachers with years of hard work and experience. Seems totally unfair to me.
I agree with most of what “No Excuses” said. Teacher pay def needs to be addressed considering what they have to do these days. They’re basically having to act like child care workers and parents while still teaching. Let’s face it, a lot of parents are not invested and expect a lot more from teachers now. As far as the LEO comments, we are under paid and our job is dangerous. These are very obvious issues that we knew about before we “volunteered” to serve. Yes I wish we got more but I knew what I was getting into and I joined a bargaining unit to help get me more pay. Also, LEOs are not required to have all the degrees teachers have to have for there low paying jobs. Teacher unions haven’t had much success when negotiating salaries. So I hope they see a lot of this money this coming year. Also, hope all the LEO can bargain for more considering how tough this job has been so far this year.
@ Dwn. So nothing is ever good enough. If someone gave you a million dollars, they could have given you a billion.
While I could make many comments about this article and the responses I have read here, I would like to focus on the comparison between CO’s and teachers.
CO’s, what you make in Florida is shameful. You definitely need to be paid more for the job you do.
However, as someone here pointed out, teachers do get time off. I should also add that those of us who do, are only paid for the time we are in school. Ten months out of the year. Our paychecks are prorated to pay us for 12 paydays to help make finances flow more easily for the district. Why the differences in pay? Well, most teachers have at least four years of college. CO’s need only have a high school diploma to be employed. Many teachers have Master’s degrees or higher, which means 6 years or more of college in their subject field. They are subject matter experts in their areas. You would not go to a doctor that didn’t have the appropriate medical degree, would you? Why are our students any less important? Why is a teacher deserving of less salary than a lawyer? A JD is simply a doctorate in law. An Ed.D is a doctorate in education. Teachers make less than lawyers because we are public servants and in many cases, lawyers aren’t.
Last, but certainly not least, teachers deal with many of the same things in classrooms everyday that CO’s deal with while working with inmates. I make this statement because I have been in that situation. I’ve been in teaching for 37 years this August. 17 of those in the Escambia School District and 20 of them as a teacher with the Federal Bureau of Prisons as a GED/Special Needs/ESL instructor. The similarities between working with inmate students and public school students would shock you.
Give the teachers (all of them) an equitable raise, and do the same for the CO’s and Law Enforcement personnel.
JMHO. No offense meant to anyone.
The way I see it is if the kids don’t go back to school, the parents become the teachers. They should be compensated. Santa Rosa county just this year put a $5000 impact fee on all new single family dwellings. They say new people moving into the area are impacting schools, where’s that $$ going especially if the schools remain closed. So if the kids don’t go back to school because of one virus or the other, why are teachers getting paid more for doing less?
I have heard for years that teacher’s starting salaries are too low, and because of this Florida is missing out on good teachers because those who would teach, choose to go to higher paying jobs. The Governor is trying to do something about that and people complain. Why? I understand the veteran teachers frustration but you are working for what you agreed to. If you don’t like the pay go somewhere else.
As one person pointed out teachers are a part of a collective bargaining group so negotiate for better salaries. Basically you voted for your pay. Maybe you need better negotiators.
Please don’t take this the wrong way, I do believe a lot has been thrown on teachers over the years, and dealing with the social issue they encounter on a day to day basses would send most people packing, so I do respect the work teachers do, and I am sure many are p[leased with the governor support but must we continue to find fault in everything? I think it is a step in the right direction.
I see teachers complaining, but as a correctional officer in a dangerous environment, we haven’t seen a raise that was worth anything in quite some time. Florida needs to have a step raise like ADOC maybe Florida will be able to retain the season staff that they have and recruit others.
Government although well intentioned has done what corporate America has done. Long term customers are not offered current sales and it is geared towards newcomers. This doesn’t take into account that a teachers longevity in a system of education takes determination, grit and love. There was a time where for 6 years no raises were given. I truly believe that while government has good intentions it has overlooked the value of the seasoned employees.
they start out higher than law enforcement- work less hours, no shift work, all holidays off, and a 2 month break in the summer. OUR TAXES GO UP
……judging from the increase in Covid 19 cases, he should’ve signed that while wearing a mask!
Maybe they will teach history .
Since 1999 when Republicans took over all levels of state government, the inflation rate has been 53.9%. It takes $1.54 to purchase what a $1.00 did in 1999.
I would love to see the percentage of teacher raises over the same time period.
“Based on the district’s allocation“ is they key phrase in this article.
Well, at least it’s a step in the right direction! Glad to see something positive!
Starting salary for an assistant State Attorney in Florida: $49,451
Hmmmm……teacher or lawyer…..what’s the path of least resistance?
BEFORE y’all get all flustered UP about Teacher Pay…
Florida is a Collective Bargaining State.
Politicians LOVE to Smile Huge and Clap Loudly about TEACHER RAISES.
FACT is that it is the Local School Board and the Teacher’s Union (call it what you will) must sit down and discuss MANY things which also include Salaries, Benefits, and much more.
POLITICIANS cannot Dictate or Earmark funds for ANY Salaries for Public Servants.
Having had this same Yadda-Yadda go on for many years of being in Public Education the FACT is the teachers will be lucky to see even a portion of this Announced Raise.
Take into account too that Teach;er Salaries come from both State and Local TAXES and if you’ve not kept up with what this Chinese Virus has done to the Revenue Flow you should realize that monies have been Severely Harmed.
Now will step down from the orange crate….Thank You and have a Good Day.
Let me get my equity calculator out… So a teacher of only a few years making $40,000 will get bumped up to $47,500 which is a 18.75% pay increase, but a seasoned teacher making $50,000 will only get a 2% pay increase? I guess you truly can’t put a
price on experience.
I am 100% behind paying teachers what they are worth but we have a revenue problem in Florida this year so my question is where does the money come from in the budget? In previous years we cut taxes for corporations and this year we have higher unemployment so more people on EBT and Medicaid along with more people spending less money and fewer tourist means much less sales revenue for the state to collect. Why was there no debate about this? Does this amount to our Governor essentially trying to buy votes? Maybe they are using common core math when they are making budget projections? It just seems incredibly short sighted and stupid to be throwing an expense like this in the budget without regard for where the money will come from.
Jeb Bush did something like this in maybe late 2006? Charlie Crist took over after Jeb with a gigantic hole in the budget that he fixed by raising the UC Fund Tax something like 983% if memory serves. Everyone in the GOP hated Crist for fixing that giant hole in budget when they should have been hating Jeb for creating it. I’m wondering if by giving this raise without paying for it if DeSantis is going to leave a 100 Million dollar giant hole in the budget that he is going to dump in the lap of the next governor ?