fbpx

Bad Policy and Low Pay: How Florida is Undermining Student Success

This multi-part series, first published in 2019, takes a deep dive into the ways that Florida’s education policies have led to a full-scale crisis in the teaching profession.

Every student in Florida deserves to be in a classroom with a certified, highly qualified and dedicated teacher. Students deserve schools with full-time media specialists and schools that are staffed with more counselors and nurses than security guards. Florida’s students deserve the very best. Too often, however, politicians have failed Florida’s future.  

Over the past two decades the state Legislature and governors have shortchanged students. Despite having a $1 trillion state economy – the 17th largest economy in the world – Florida is 43rd in the nation when it comes to total public education funding and 48th in average teacher salary. Low pay and bad policies created an unprecedented teacher shortage in Florida even before the pandemic – meaning all students don’t have access to the certified, professional educators they deserve and their parents expect. 

Certain politicians have put their own interests, and those of their corporate donors, ahead of the interests of Florida’s children and families. In this series, we take a deep dive into the ways that Florida’s education policies have led to a full-scale crisis in the teaching profession.  

More importantly, we’ll offer solutions that can get Florida back on the right track to meeting the constitutional mandate to provide a “uniform, efficient, safe, secure, and high quality system of free public schools.” 

Part I: Low Pay — Why it matters to students and parents, how we got here, and how to recover  

Part II:  Value-Added Measures – Valuing meaningless data over high-quality instruction 

Part III: Annual Contracts An attack on teachers’ professionalism

Part IV: Test Mania – How Florida lost its focus on what matters in education 

Solutions: Florida’s Legislature can address many of the issues facing our schools. The FEA is advocating for changes during the upcoming 2022 session — changes that will help ensure that Florida’s students get the high quality education they deserve. 

UFF Files Federal Suit Against University Arbitration Ban

On Tuesday, Aug. 15, the United Faculty of Florida (UFF), the UFF chapter at the University of South Florida and three individual faculty members who were laid off from the…

Read more about UFF Files Federal Suit Against University Arbitration Ban

Back to school, missing nearly 7,000 teachers

TALLAHASSEE — Each child gets only one first day of kindergarten, one first day of middle school and one first day of their senior year. Florida’s educators are dedicated to…

Read more about Back to school, missing nearly 7,000 teachers

FEA files federal lawsuit against SB 256

As was announced today at a virtual press conference, the Florida Education Association (FEA) and three affiliated unions have filed a federal lawsuit against Senate Bill (SB) 256, which was…

Read more about FEA files federal lawsuit against SB 256

FEA leadership: We stand united for our students

Let us say first, we are honored to lead this organization and to have you as a member.

Read more about FEA leadership: We stand united for our students

Help for kids who are hurting

Through Steve’s Club, Cori Lake Walls wants to ensure no grieving student goes unnoticed or unheard

Read more about Help for kids who are hurting

$1,200 worth of turkeys and a lot of love

Lakisha Ayers-White and her student volunteers provide supplies for Thanksgiving dinners with all the trimmings to dozens of union families

Read more about $1,200 worth of turkeys and a lot of love