updated May 29, 2026
The 2026-27 budget:
Doesn't improve educator pay in meaningful ways
$201 million has been allotted for teacher salaries in the Senate, which would work out to roughly $40 more per paycheck per teacher.
The funding is only for classroom teachers with 10+ years of full-time teaching experience in a Florida public school--leaving out tens of thousands of dedicated educators altogether.
favors voucher schools over public schools
$4.5 billion has been allocated for vouchers with zero strings attached.
The budget ignores the recommendation of Florida's Auditor General to create a separate silo for voucher funding in the FEFP.
Doesn't provide a BSA that keeps up with inflation
The less than 2% addition fails to keep pace with inflation or increasing operating costs, putting districts under more pressure to do more with less.
Despite the talk of "historic investment" in education, when adjusted for inflation per-student funding has decreased by $1,300 during Gov. DeSantis' two terms.
Supporting educators and public education isn’t just a talking point.
Lawmakers say they support educators, communities and students. But that takes:
Maintains current career and college prep funding
The budget proposals keep current funding for courses that prepare students for college and careers. New mechanism for allocations may reduce transparency.
What is the impact of the budget?
Florida currently ranks near the bottom in the nation in per-student funding.
The 2026-26 budget provides an additional $85 for the Base Student Allocation. Simply to keep up with inflation, the BSA increase would have needed to be $165.
This failure to keep up with inflation means that once again, districts and educators will be forced to do more with less.
This budget picks and chooses which educators the state deems worthy of receiving a raise.
Decisions on how educators are paid should be made at the bargaining table with the combined local expertise of the union and the school district.
This budget sows division by making one-size-fits all decisions in Tallahassee.
During the budget process, new language that was never vetted in committee was introduced. If the budget passes as is, the Board of Governors and State board of Education will have the authority to amend general education course applications rather than only accept or reject them.
This is a structural shift in academic governance, not a procedural tweak. Combined with the ongoing pressure around Stop WOKE-style content restrictions, the elimination of certain general education courses in recent years, and the political appointments dominating our boards, this provision hands the state a powerful new tool to reshape the curriculum from Tallahassee.
Tell Your Story
How does living and working in a state where teachers rank #50 in the nation impact your students or your job? How will this budget impact your local community? Let us know by sending us your comments today!
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What do the proposed budgets mean for your paycheck?
There are a lot of different variables to consider with the budget. One of the items we look at in depth is the Teacher Salary Increase Allocation (TSIA), which are the funds that are to be used for salary increases in your district.
Again this year, the TSIA leaves out all education staff professionals—the paraprofessionals, bus drivers, clerical staff, custodial and maintenance workers and other essential personnel who are the backbones of our schools.
New this year are entire categories of instructional personnel who are left out. The TSIA funds are set aside for “full-time classroom teachers and certified prekindergarten teachers funded in the FEFP with at least ten years of full-time teaching experience in a Florida public school.”
This leaves out media specialists, counselors, and many other education professionals who directly contribute to student success on a daily basis.
Once again certain lawmakers are picking winners and losers when it comes to salary increases. Florida’s economy is robust enough that there need not be any losers when it comes to salary. However, lawmakers have made funding unaccountable corporate voucher schools a priority instead of investing in Florida’s public schools.
