JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Governor Ron DeSantis is asking the Florida Legislature to boost the dedicated fund for teacher pay raises by 20 percent this year.
DeSantis announced his request for a $246.7 million increase to the fund in this year’s budget on Monday.
“And that’s not just for district teachers. That also applies to our charter school teachers,” said DeSantis.
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But despite the quarter-billion-dollar top line figure, unions representing teachers in the state argue it would have very little impact on individual educators.
The state’s largest teachers’ union, the Florida Education Association, estimated the funding would raise annual teacher salaries by just $1,400, or a little less than three percent of the state’s $53,098 average teacher salary.
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“It’s just embarrassing that this is what we have coming for us for bargaining for our salaries with the increase in our insurance, increase in just everyday living,” said Tammie Brooks-Evans, President of Duval Teachers United.
Brooks-Evans argued the proposed increase not only fails to keep up with inflation but also fails to improve Florida’s 50th place ranking in average teacher pay.
“Which is a very sad place to be. We would hope that we would get more support from the Governor, some additional funds to move us up in those rankings,” said Brooks-Evans.
Additionally, she noted the roughly $1.5 billion total teacher pay fund proposed by the Governor is less than half of the $3.3 billion the Governor wants to spend on the state’s private school scholarship program.
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“Their focus with this amount seems to be on the voucher programs and not on public schools,” said Brooks-Evans.
Unlike some prior years, which prioritized raising starting teacher pay, the proposed increase this year would apply to all teachers.
Florida currently ranks 16th in the nation for starting teacher pay.
Read: Duval charter schools fall behind traditional public schools in new graduation rate report
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