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Florida teachers need higher pay, not politics

Starting pay has increased, but average teacher pay in Florida is the lowest in the country, according to one report.

There are things to like about Gov. Ron DeSantis’ decision to back a $202 million pay increase next year for Florida teachers. It provides a significant bump for new teachers, who will see their average pay rise to among the highest in the Southeastern United States.

There’s just one problem: The additional money will do little to help the vast majority of veteran teachers in Florida, who are doing most of the hard work instructing the state’s children.

Those with at least 10 years of experience — in other words, those with actual track records — still won’t be paid much more than their rookie counterparts.

This short-sighted approach appears to be as much about weakening teachers unions — a stalwart of the Democratic Party and a longtime target of Florida Republicans — as it is about strengthening education. It’s also why this prosperous state will remain near the bottom of the U.S. in overall teacher pay even after the $200 million hike.

It’s a disgrace and a major reason for Florida’s longstanding teacher shortage, which the state teachers union said left more than 4,000 classrooms last year with no instructor or a less qualified substitute.

“We have to recognize the fact that … teachers can’t afford to be teachers,” Florida Education Association President Andrew Spar said after the governor announced his decision. “All they’re asking for is to be paid enough so they can pay their bills, go to the doctor when they’re not feeling well and do their jobs.”

Numbers show why that’s so difficult.

The average starting teacher salary in Florida was $47,178 in 2023, according to the National Education Association. That ranks a commendable 16th in the U.S. But the average salary for all teachers in Florida last year was $53,098 — or just $6,000 more than what the newbies are getting.

That ranks Florida dead last in the U.S., which is simply inexcusable.

Teachers here are supposed to be paid according to their length of service; the more years you teach, the higher your salary. But these step increases have been paltry, leading to a phenomenon called compression — a term used to describe the squeezing of veteran teachers’ pay.

We agree it’s important to pay new teachers enough to get them to come to Florida. But it’s as much or more important to pay all teachers enough to keep them in Florida, which isn’t happening. That’s because it would get in the way of Republican efforts to weaken or eliminate teachers unions, which have long been allied with state Democrats.

It’s not complicated: Make it look like unions aren’t doing enough to raise pay for the rank and file and the rank and file will start withholding their union dues. It almost worked last year in Miami-Dade county, where the teachers union barely escaped decertification.

But who is really being hurt here? Florida’s more experienced teachers are certainly feeling financial pain from this ideological battle.

Sadly, so are the many schoolchildren who are having to make do with substitutes.

Starting at $4.62/week.

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