Key takeaways
- Proposed cuts to Dual Enrollment, Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE), and Career & Technical Education (CTE) hurt students looking to prepare for higher education and career and technical pathways.
- Proposals include minimal increases to the Base Student Allocation (BSA). With inflation averaging 3.5–4%, a 1.25% increase in the base student allocation isn’t a raise, it’s a cut by another name.
- Proposed salary increases still do not value educators nor allow them the ability to provide for their families and build better lives.
“Before the legislative session began, the Florida Education Association called on lawmakers to increase student funding by $1,000 per student, which would finally begin to move Florida up from the ranking of 43rd in the nation. Today, the Florida and each voted to pass their budget proposals, which call for an increase of $135 and $62 respectively. A child who was in kindergarten when Gov. DeSantis signed his first budget in 2019 will be starting middle school when the 2025-26 budget is implemented. During that time, per-student funding for that child has decreased by $400 when adjusted for inflation based on the proposed Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP) calculations in the and .
“The budget proposals shortchange students and educators alike. They keep Florida at the bottom of the nation in average teacher pay, slash funding for courses that prepare students for college and careers and continue the long practice of unfunded mandates. Once again, educators are being asked to do more and more with less and less resources.
“Decades of bad policy have caused Florida’s students to have to deal with continued teacher and staff shortages, declining SAT scores and falling NAEP scores. Meanwhile, while inflation rises, teachers in Florida are ranked #50 in the nation for average teacher salary and education staff professionals often cannot afford to live where they work.
Details of the budget include:
HB 5001/SB 2500
- House: $50.51 (.95%)
- Senate: $66.77 (1.25%)
Teacher Salary Increase Allocation (TSIA) new money
- House: $102 million—half of last year’s appropriation for salary increases. That would mean on average less than $500 raise for instructional personnel.
- Senate: $248 million, which equates to around a $1,200 raise for instructional personnel and is still not enough of a raise to cover rent hikes, rising insurance premiums, student loan payments, or childcare, let alone recognize the value of our teachers.
Florida Retirement System (FRS) Rate Increase: $78.8 million (districts would pay for this increase from their budgets)
No increases to school safety or mental health
HB 5101/SB 2510
- Estimated loss of revenue: $292 million, which is $90 million more than last year’s salary allocation.
If these cuts move forward, Florida students in could lose:
- After-school tutoring and Saturday school sessions that help them succeed,
- Early access to IB and AICE strategies that build critical thinking skills starting in elementary and middle school,
- New career and technical programs aligned with student interests and local workforce needs, and
- Access to updated technology, equipment, curriculum, and prep materials, and
- The growth and quality of CTE programs, already strained by rising operational costs
School Recognition funds restricted to “Instructional Personnel” (found in SB 2510)
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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.
