Florida’s Budget Keeps Teachers Near the Bottom for Salary

Tallahassee – Today, the Florida legislature released their proposed budget that once again does not go far enough in supporting students, parents, teachers and education staff professionals in the state.

Florida ranks near the bottom, #48, in average teacher salary and ultimately, this budget does nothing to bring teachers into the top 10 in the nation for pay.

“Florida has the fourth largest economy in the nation, yet Florida’s budget doesn’t reflect that. Make no mistake- our state has the ability to provide funds to pay teachers and education staff professionals fairly, to fully fund public education, to ensure teacher vacancies are filled so every child can have an educator trained in their subject, yet chooses not to make these real issues a priority year after year,” said Andrew Spar, President of the Florida Education Association. “Public education is the pathway to a better life for every Floridian. It’s clear our leaders want to continue the tradition of saying they support public education, but actions speak louder than words.”

While the budget does include funding to maintain and increase school funding, it is not enough of an increase to significantly move Florida’s low ranking in the state’s investment in education and help us retain and attract teachers to fill the vacancies we have across the state at every grade and subject. In fact, the funding proposed fails to provide enough funds to address Florida’s ongoing massive teacher and staff shortage, to support the mental health needs of students, and to ensure every child is getting the academic support to live a successful and productive life.

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 28^th in the nation in average teacher salary.
• The legislature continues to fund nearly $1 billion to maintain the previous salary increases funded in the 2023-24 school year, and as last year the budget adds another $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. 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.
• 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 has appropriated $80 million dollars 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.
• This year’s higher education budget continues the State University System Performance-based Excellence Recognition Program which provides $100 million in the state’s performance funding system for each university.