Florida Educators Remain Focused on Students in Light of Federal Uncertainty

The Florida Education Association has released the following statement addressing the uncertainty surrounding federal executive orders and reaffirming their commitment to Florida’s educators and children.

“Educators in Florida want to do one thing: educate. Teachers and education staff professionals work every day to inspire, support and help our children grow. They want to be able to support their families, get healthcare without rising premiums, do their jobs without political interference and retire with dignity after a lifetime of service.

“In Florida, we remain focused and committed to supporting our communities, educators and students as we work together to provide every child with a world class public education. We understand that there is federal uncertainty at this time with executive orders that may impact our state and our students.

“Here is what we know:

• Florida’s teachers are ranked #50 in the nation in average teacher pay,
• SAT scores are trending downward,
• bad policies are keeping our students from excelling in reading and math, and
• corporate run charter schools continue to siphon billions from public schools.

“Governor DeSantis’ recent budget proposal calls for reducing the Funding for Exceptional Student Education (ESE) services by 13.02% or $169 million- a devastating blow to the special needs students who are already facing critical staff shortages, overcrowded classrooms, and limited resources. His proposal also allocates $3.3 billion to Florida’s underregulated voucher program – double the amount set aside for teacher salaries.

“Federal executive orders that would decimate Title I programs, weaken the ability for students with disabilities to succeed, strip neighborhood public schools from funding and set up a lose-lose competition between charter schools and public schools only exacerbate these issues in Florida.

“No matter what happens at the federal level, we will remain focused on supporting our students and our educators. This session, we will continue our work with legislators to ensure that our students are supported by calling on our neighborhood schools to be fully funded and moving educator salaries into the top of the nation.”