TALLAHASSEE – As the Legislature takes its first steps towards crafting the State’s 2022-2023 budget, the Florida Education Association is hopeful that there may be some help to curb the exodus of experienced teachers and education staff professionals from Florida’s schools.
“The first budget proposals look promising, with funding increases our members have been advocating for; this may help ease the strain on our schools due to staff shortages and positions that have remained unfilled by professionally trained educators,” said Florida Education Association (FEA) President Andrew Spar. “I am especially heartened that legislators are working to keep Senate President Simpson’s promise to raise support staff salaries to at least $15/hour for next school year.”
The increase in funding and flexibility will be welcome news for educators after several years of the Legislature’s sole focus on raising minimum teacher salaries. The restrictions imposed by the Legislature in the past few years has penalized veteran teachers, non-instructional personnel and support staff. “These long-serving, highly skilled educators are crucial to ensuring our students can reach their full potential,” said Spar.
Pre-pandemic, Florida’s public schools had already suffered decades of underfunding. We rank 43rd nationally in funding for public education. Too many of our students have been left behind by underfunded and under-resourced classrooms.
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Contact: Sharon Nesvig, sharon.nesvig@floridaea.org, (850) 510-9346
The Florida Education Association is the state’s largest association of professional employees, with 150,000 members. FEA represents PreK-12 teachers, higher education faculty, educational staff professionals, students at our colleges and universities preparing to become teachers and retired education employees.
