With the stroke of a pen Monday, Governor Ron DeSantis approved a $200 million increase in budget spending to help increase teacher pay. The increase will go into effect for the 2024-2025 fiscal year.
For teachers in the state, the small bump in salary can't come soon enough.
In April, a report released by the National Education Association showed that the average salary of a Florida teacher had dropped to 50th in the country. In the Tampa Bay area, average teacher salaries ranged from $48,057 to $66,665.
If the money were distributed equally among Florida's approximately 185,000 teachers, the $200 million investment would translate to roughly $1,081.08 per teacher. If that amount is spread out over nine months, it equals $120.12 per month.
Assuming an average of 20 working days in a month and an eight-hour workday, teachers in Florida would receive an increase of $0.76 per hour before taxes if the money was distributed to all teachers.
However, the exact distribution of the new money isn't known at this point.
The lack of pay has been one of the top factors driving teachers out of the profession. In teacher exit interviews, former teachers highlighted stress, lack of support, and relocation as other top reasons for leaving.
Investigative Reporter Katie LaGrone obtained the teacher exit interviews and found that last school year, over 18,000 Florida teachers left their districts. In Hillsborough County, the district lost more than 1,300 teachers last year, representing just over 9% of the district’s teaching staff at the time.
Tracey McConnell has been teaching at Pinellas Central Elementary for two decades.
But she said she is now selling her plasma to make some extra money for her own kids’ field trip.
“I don’t feel like I should have to look for every single thing that I can milk some money out of to be able to pay for my kids to do things that other parents are able to pay for,” said McConnell.
McConnell said it’s unfair that an increase in teacher base pay for new hires didn’t also provide significant raises for veteran teachers.
“There’s only a $7,000 difference between me and a brand new teacher. And to think I’ve dedicated 20 years of service to the state of Florida,” said McConnell.
Nic Esposito teaches sixth-grade history at Tyrone Middle School.
“Becoming a better teacher has been one of the best parts of my life over the last couple of years,” he said.
He said teacher salaries in Florida don’t add up.
“It’s a huge economy. There’s billions of dollars floating around in the state of Florida and we are getting more and more students every single day that are just not getting our needs met,” said Esposito.
All teachers should see increases soon after Gov. Desantis announced $1.25 billion in the next state budget for teacher pay, but while doing so, came down hard on teacher unions.
But Florida’s starting salary for teachers is 16th in the country, and the average teacher salary of about $53,000 is 50th.
Lee Bryant, the president of the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association, said the increases from the state are woefully short.
“They’ve had budget surpluses in the tens of billions of dollars, and they have not funded education in the state. Now that we are 50th in the nation, they are trying to do a little salvage,” said Bryant.
The support staff’s union in Pinellas County is in negotiations with the school district for a new contract.
It’s those employees Bryant says are not getting enough attention from the state too.
“Public education is a public good. It needs to be publicly supported. Absolutely supported. Not just teachers. Everybody in the school system needs to be supported. Cafeteria workers, bus drivers, paras, counselors,” said Bryant.
The fight between teacher's unions and the state has been ongoing. As vacancies continue and districts attempt creative ways to retain teachers, many question whether the budget increase will be enough to move the needle.
“There’s too many positions that need to be filled. And every single year, it’s just going to continue to get worse,” said Esposito.
“You threw my son under the bus. You didn't take care of him.”
The State of Florida and the VA are under scrutiny after the Baker Act was used incorrectly on a young veteran who went to a Florida VA hospital for help.
