Teachers' union urges Florida lawmakers to reject governor's 'inadequate' education budget
The Florida Education Association says the governor's proposed budget doesn't meet the needs of public schools and students.
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced his budget proposals at a news conference on Monday.
The statewide teachers' union is asking the Florida Legislature to increase funding.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Florida's statewide teachers' union is strongly criticizing Governor Ron DeSantis' proposed budget, arguing that it falls short of meeting the needs of public schools and students. The union is urging the state Legislature to "fully commit" to public education by increasing funding.
What they're saying
The Florida Education Association says the budget fails to address critical issues like low teacher pay, staff shortages and declining student performance. While the proposal does include small pay increases for educators, the union argues that the raises do not keep pace with inflation and will not significantly improve per-student funding.
PREVIOUS: Governor DeSantis unveils $115.6B proposed budget for 2025-26 fiscal year
"The state of Florida, we don't set teacher salaries," Gov. DeSantis said in Tallahassee on Monday when announcing the proposed budget. "That's done on a district-by-district basis. Sometimes those are negotiations between districts and the school unions. And the school unions, quite frankly, have all have other interests are not necessarily just looking to help teachers."
By the numbers
Florida already ranks near the bottom in average teacher salaries, and the FEA says this budget does little to change this. Another major concern is over the governor's push for school vouchers.
The budget allocates $3.3 billion to the program, which allows students to use taxpayer-funded vouchers for private school tuition. That's double the amount set aside for teacher salaries.
Then there's the 13% cut in funding for Exceptional Student Education (ESE). "Look, students with special needs in the state of Florida have long been shortchanged," FEA president Andrew Spar told FOX 13 News, "instead of really investing in what students with special needs require, such as having teacher assistance with them in the classroom, making sure that they're in smaller classes, that they have additional curriculum support."
The union wants lawmakers to invest an additional $1,000 per student, fund repairs to aging school buildings, and shift away from standardized testing. They're also pushing for more oversight of private and charter schools that receive public funding.
"I think the biggest headline is, once again, Florida continues to underfund its public schools," Spar said. "We are among the worst in the nation in supporting our public schools. Teachers in the state of Florida, the average teacher pay ranks 50th in the nation. And what this budget that the governor has proposed does is to ensure that we remain 50th in the nation and average teacher pay near the bottom in the nation in funding for our schools. And that's just not acceptable at a critical moment in our country's history."
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What's next
With the legislative session set to begin March 4, Florida's battle over education funding appears to be far from over.
The Source
Information for this story was collected by FOX 13's Matthew McClellan.
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