Tallahassee, Fla. (June 12, 2024) – Today, Governor Ron DeSantis has signed Florida’s budget, which still doesn’t go far enough to support parents, teachers and education staff professionals in the state.
“Florida is the fourth largest economy in the nation- and with this budget the Governor has claimed he has so much money, he doesn’t know what to do with it. This is curious given that Florida’s teachers rank #50 in the nation in average teacher pay, a ranking that is contributing to a concerning teacher and staff shortage in our state. The solution seems to be to close down public schools in favor of voucher schools, which actively take money from our students in neighborhood public schools.
“Teachers and staff in Florida have recommendations on how the Governor can spend his extra cash: provide funds to pay teachers and education staff professionals fairly, fully fund public education, provide mental health resources for students and teachers who are struggling, and ensure teacher vacancies are filled so every child can have an educator trained in their subject.
“Parents, communities and voters overwhelmingly support public education. While the Governor said he was increasing teacher pay by $1.25 billion, the truth is the budget passed by the legislature, at his request, only has about $200 million more for teacher salaries in the coming school year. This $200 million equates to a salary increase in every classroom teacher’s paycheck of about $125 a month, and nowhere near the $15,000 annual increase needed to match the national average for teacher salaries. The only thing the budget guarantees is that Florida’s teachers will remain near the bottom in average pay.
“The Governor’s announcement is at best, fuzzy math and at worst, a political stunt meant to intentionally mislead teachers in the state and once again shift blame. We have an obligation to our students to ensure they have a world class, free public education system that puts them – not corporate interests or political agendas- first. We will continue to fight for a budget that sets aside $2.5 billion a year for the next 7 years (roughly $1,000 more per student) to make Florida’s teachers rank top 10 in the nation in pay and to fund programs that Florida’s students need to succeed.”
Some budget details include:
Salary and funding:
- Florida will see a 3.72% increase in the Base Student Allocation which will now sit at $5,330.98. This means that more money per student is being allocated in the section of the FEFP that is more flexible than the named categorical funds. Trends show when adjusted for inflation this funding is actually less than pre-Great Recession funding, when Florida was ranked 28th in the nation in average teacher salary.
- The budget approved by the legislature adds $200 million for additional salary increases. This money would need to cover roughly 200,000 educators, including certified instructors and pre-k educators. While $200 million sounds historic, the truth is, the salary increases being proposed in Florida’s budget don’t move the needle far enough or fast enough for educators working toward a better life.
- The total state funding in the K-12 Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP) including state and local sources is $28,401,435,018, an increase of $1,791,517,807 over last year. The total increase in funding K-12 funding per FTE is $8,958, a $240.01 increase over the 2023-24 budget. The per student increase is 2.75% , while the number of students funded in the formula increased by 3.87%. While on the surface this seems like good news, nearly $900,000,000 of the increase is set for vouchers for students, most of whom have never attended public school, meaning a loss of funding for the overwhelming majority of Florida’s students who attend our public schools. The budget includes $2.8 billion in the FEFP that will go to a projected 315,892 students for private school vouchers, many whom have never attended a public school.
- A 3% Cost of Living Adjustment will not be restored for past or future retirees. The funding rate paid by employees and the employer into FRS to pay for our retirement system increases only a fraction of a percentage point.
Schools and classrooms:
- The budget calls for an increase in dedicated appropriations for both mental health and school safety, funding programs at $180 million and $290 million respectively. While an increase in funding is good, it does not go far enough to ensure that Florida’s students have access to more school counselors, more school psychologists and more school social workers to help struggling students and families.
- The classroom supply allocation teachers use to purchase consumable classroom materials for their students stays at $300 per classroom teacher as in past budgets, effectively ensuring that teachers will need to continue to pay for supplies out of pocket.
- Once again charter schools have dedicated funding through the PECO fund. This year, the charter school PECO funding is $230 million dollars, with several small school districts (Gadsden, Gilchrist, Glades, Hendry, Putnam, and Wakulla) receiving a combined $193 million in special facilities appropriations for critical needs school construction. An additional $16 million is allocated for emergency repairs and smaller expansion projects in 15 other counties.
Higher education:
- For the first time, state college systems can apply to become part of the state employee health system. Colleges will be permitted to join the system, and the state appropriated $80 million* to offset the cost to add college employees to the plan this year. The state system has both lower costs and better coverage for employees compared to most current college health plans. Each chapter of the college system, including the lab schools’ employees, will have the chance to evaluate this benefit and bargain over changing health coverage to the state system as part of their benefits package.
- The state continues to promote performance funding in the state university system where the 14 universities have to justify receiving their full appropriation through a state-designed performance scheme. An additional $100 million is allocated across the SUS for a performance-based recruitment and retention fund.
*Note: Governor DeSantis vetoed the $80 million for the state health insurance switch. However, it’s still mandatory for the state to transfer over the program by 2025.
