JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – New data released on Tuesday showed that Florida’s average teacher pay is still ranked at the bottom of the nation.
Florida is 50th out of all 50 states and D.C., according to newly released data from the National Education Association (NEA).
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The Florida Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, said Florida’s poor ranking is a “direct result of poor policy implemented over the past 15 years and a continued lack of investment in public education by state leaders.”
The new figures show that average teacher pay in Florida rose to $54,875 in the 2023-24 school year, a 3.3% increase from the year before. But when adjusted for inflation, from 2014-15 to 2023-24, the average teacher salary in Florida fell 12.9%, FEA said.
(To access the full data sets, visit Feaweb.org/50InPay)
“Florida’s lawmakers say they want to lead in public education, but you can’t lead from 50th place,” said FEA President Andrew Spar. “Florida’s 50th place ranking two years in a row is undeniable evidence that what politicians are doing right now simply isn’t working. Our state is facing a critical teacher and staff shortage, SAT scores are declining, and NAEP scores in reading and math are slipping — all clear signs that students are paying the price for bad policy. It’s a legacy of bad policy, and if we don’t change course, that will be the legacy that defines the future of public education in our state. Educators aren’t asking for riches — they’re asking for the chance to build a stable life, to afford to live in the communities they serve, and to lift up the next generation. They want to be able to teach without worrying about making ends meet, and to give every student the attention and care they deserve. Strong public schools are the heart of strong communities. If lawmakers truly want to lead on education, it’s time to put money where their priorities are — into neighborhood public schools where 80% of Florida’s children learn and grow every day.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke about education funding during a news conference in Central Florida on Wednesday.
He talked about how in 2020, Florida established a “Teacher Salary Increase Allocation” in the state budget, and it has since increased funding to $1.25 billion. DeSantis said the salary funding could increase to $1.5 billion in the upcoming fiscal year.
The teacher salary allocation requires school districts and charter schools to use the money to raise the minimum base salary for full-time classroom teachers. Florida ranks 17th in the nation in average teacher starting salary, according to NEA.
“I think [the average starting salary for a teacher in Florida] was like $39,000 four or five years ago, and now that’s up closer to $50,000, which is helpful,” DeSantis said Wednesday. “I mean, it’s not nearly enough, obviously, for how much costs have gone up for people in a high inflation economy...But that’s been a real big issue over the last three or four years for a lot of people, but we put record amounts of money.”
DeSantis has blamed unions like FEA for Florida’s education issues and touted a historic $29.7 billion budget for K-12 education.
But FEA said there is still a lot of work to be done when it comes to funding.
“A child who was in kindergarten when this Governor signed his first budget in 2019 will be starting middle school under the 2025–26 budget," Spar said. “Over that time, inflation-adjusted per-student funding has dropped by $400. Even as Florida climbed slightly to 39th in per-student spending this year, the progress is deceiving. The Governor’s original budget proposal keeps public schools at the bottom of the priority list by keeping per student spending flat, failing to deliver meaningful raises for teachers, and significantly decreasing funding for special needs students. The House and Senate proposed budgets follow suit, proposing deep cuts to college and career readiness programs that are critical to Florida’s future workforce and minimal increases to teacher salaries.”
Here are some of the major highlights from the education budget, compiled by WUSF:
- $1.5 billion, an increase of $246.7 million, in funding for salary increases for eligible teachers and other instructional personnel.
- $1.76 billion in funding for early child education, including a total of $465.8 million for Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten initiatives.
- $29.7 billion in funding, of which $16.1 billion is record state funding, for K-12 public schools. This covers costs associated with the projected statewide enrollment of over 3.2 million students, including almost 358,000 projected to participate in the Family Empowerment Scholarship program.
- $1.7 billion in operating funding for the Florida College System.
- $3.9 billion in operating funding for the State University System.
- $130 million in total funding to reward quality nursing education programs to address nursing vacancies.
- $100 million for the State University System for the recruitment and retention of highly qualified faculty.
- $632 million for the projected student enrollment for the Bright Futures Scholarship program.
- $146.5 million for Florida’s historically Black colleges and universities: $17 million in operating funds for Bethune-Cookman University, $7 million in operating funds for Florida Memorial University, $7.5 million in operating funds for Edward Waters University, $115 million in operating funds for Florida A&M University.
To read more about the proposed budget, click here.
