Key takeaways
- $201 million has been allotted for teacher salaries, but almost half of Florida’s teachers will be excluded from receiving it. No funding has been allocated for salary increases for education staff professionals.
- The Base Student Allocation (BSA) increased by 1.58%, far below what’s needed to keep pace with inflation.
- Florida’s voucher program was allocated $4.5 billion without any additional oversight or transparency despite Florida’s Auditor General finding a “myriad of accountability challenges.”
After months of delay, lawmakers have delivered a budget that once again sidelines Florida’s public school students and families in favor of out-of-state, billionaire-backed special interests. As districts statewide close schools to address budget shortfalls driven by years of underfunding and the unchecked growth of Florida’s unaccountable voucher program, the Legislature’s latest budget cements Florida’s place at near rock bottom nationally in average teacher pay and makes life harder for workers and families, further solidifying a legacy of failure in Gov. Ron DeSantis’ last term.
Rather than investing in our students and communities, this budget puts politics above people. The less than 2 percent increase to the Base Student Allocation fails to keep up with inflation, leaving less support for students and teachers. Instead of fixing pay for all educators, the plan, according to the Florida Department of Education, will exclude almost half of Florida’s educators, continuing a pattern that keeps Florida at 41st in per-pupil spending and 50th in average teacher pay. It’s decades of deliberate underfunding that have driven many teachers and staff out of the profession or out of the state, disrupting student learning environments and worsening student outcomes. When given a chance to add transparency to the voucher program after Florida’s Auditor General found “a myriad of accountability challenges,” the Legislature ignored the report entirely and chose instead to funnel $4.5 billion to corporations and special interests, without a uniform set of basic standards, expectations, and transparency to protect every child. Even worse, on the higher education side, policy language was slipped in—without a public meeting or input—that would allow state boards to override faculty decisions, letting political appointees limit what students can learn, and what professors can teach.
“Too many of Florida’s lawmakers are disconnected from the needs of the Floridians they were elected to serve,” said Florida Education Association President Andrew Spar. “Instead of putting Florida’s families, workers, and students first, the Legislature passed a budget that ignores the needs of hurting communities while patting themselves on the back for empty gestures that don’t create real solutions. Floridians want strong public schools because they build our economy, support higher-paying jobs, and give every child a fair shot at success. But when that system is intentionally weakened, families pay the price through lower wages, higher living costs, and fewer opportunities for their kids. That’s why the Florida Education Association, together with parents, students, and educators, is holding leaders accountable and has filed a lawsuit to ensure every child gets the high-quality public education promised in our state Constitution.”
Key takeaways from the Legislature’s education budget include:
- Base Student Allocation (BSA): The BSA increased by $85 per student. With inflation averaging 3.5–4%, a 1.58% increase in the base student allocation, especially when Florida’s unaccountable voucher program continues siphoning funds, isn’t a raise; it’s a cut by another name. In order for every student in public schools to get the constitutionally promised public education they deserve, the BSA should be a recurring $1,000 per student per year.
- Teacher Salary Increase Allocation (TSIA): While $201 million in new funding has been allocated to teacher salary increases, the budget stipulates that only classroom teachers with at least 10 years of experience (of full-time teaching experience in a Florida public school) qualify to receive raises (capped at $3,000), with any remaining funds allowed to be used for “instructional personnel compensation costs.”
- In Miami-Dade, where teachers average 15 years of experience, most will get much smaller raises than teachers in counties with less experience, like Hillsborough. The state is not just picking winners and losers within districts, but also between districts. Fair salary decisions should be made locally, not by one-size-fits-all state policies. This plan does not solve the real problem of salary compression and underfunding, and continues the pattern of excluding non-instructional staff and education staff professionals from raises altogether.
- Florida’s Unaccountable Voucher Program: The voucher program has been allocated $4.5 billion—taxpayer dollars siphoned directly from public schools—without any additional accountability or transparency measures.
- School Safety or Mental Health: Both remain unchanged from last year, which is a cut by another name considering rising inflation.
- Management Infrastructure for the Federal Education Freedom Tax Credit: The Legislature allocated $2 million to the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) to develop a platform for federal vouchers.
- History of Communism Curriculum: The budget allots $750,000 to fund an anti-communism curriculum.
- Online Supplies Marketplace: The budget allocates $500,000 to the FLDOE for an online marketplace for online supplies. It’s unclear the markup that supplies on this marketplace will face.
Other policy language slipped into the budget without input or public hearing:
- Public School Enrollment Stabilization Fund: This fund offers limited help with enrollment declines. The Legislature ignored the Auditor General’s recommendation to separate voucher and public school funding. Instead, the new rules kick in when specific conditions are met, capping the state’s liability but making district budgets unpredictable, since schools don’t know exactly how much funding they will receive.
- Attack on Academic Freedom in Higher Education: Under this language, the politically appointed State Board of Education or Board of Governors would be authorized to override faculty-driven curriculum decisions and inject state-level political control into general education. Decisions about curriculum would no longer rest with educators, scholars, and academic institutions, but with political appointees empowered to reshape higher education from the top down.
- Acknowledgement that So-Called “Pay for Performance” Has Caused Salary Compression: The budget repeals, for one year, the requirement for specific percentages around the performance pay and grandfather schedules. This repeal is necessary to comply with the new TSIA provisions related to raises for teachers with 10+ years of experience. Educators need a permanent solution to salary compression that is driven by policy and legislative fixes.
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CONTACT: FEA Press, feapress@floridaea.org, (850) 201-3223
The Florida Education Association is the state’s largest association of professional employees, with 120,000 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.
