TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – Teacher vacancies are a national issue that has affected Florida. During discussions at the Roundtable on Education at the Hillsboro Academy of Mathematics and Science Charter Schools, the governor announced that vacancy for this next grade would fall by nearly 18%.
Desantis mentioned a list of efforts, including payroll increases, as a way to help attract and retain teachers. However, he also denounced teacher unions for delaying the increase in educators’ pay during the negotiation process.
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“They would withhold it as a negotiation tip so they could extract other things for their agenda. They had nothing to do with the increase in teacher pay,” DeSantis said.
The governor said his administration found that 16 of the 67 school districts were delayed in pay raises following the new budget that comes into effect in July each year.
“Last year there were six, seven or eight months when some of these unions were supporting an increase in teacher wages. That’s not true,” DeSantis said.
The governor did not mention the names of the union or districts.
On Wednesday, Florida Education Commissioner Anastasios “Stasi” Camoutes sent a memorandum urging the district to put pressure on the union.
“Over and over, every supervisor explains it’s a teachers union,” Camoutes said.
If state officials determine that there is a delay, one option offered by the school board is calling district leaders to call the state board of education to ask for public explanations.
“We’re free to use all the tools at our disposal to ensure that this money reaches where it belongs,” Desantis says.
Since 2020, Desantis has raised and approved wages to educators and other staff. However, according to the National Education Association, the state remains the worst state in the country as it is linked to the average teacher salary.
Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association Lee Bryant said the union is only negotiating and doesn’t deal with money.
“First of all, we don’t have the money to hold. The state gives the district money. The district has the money. What we’re trying to do is negotiate the best possible terms for educators,” Bryant said.
The Florida Education Association said this recent allocation from the budget that came into effect in July would be more than $100 million for teacher salaries.
“The numbers are big, but the number of people that are split up is also huge, so it really doesn’t make a difference,” Bryant said.
