More Pay For Longtime FL Educators Part Of Teacher Bill Of Rights

FLORIDA — After saying he ensured the rights of parents of school children in his Florida Parent Rights in Education law during the 2022 legislative session, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced this week that he's proposing an "unprecedented" measure to create a bill of rights for teachers.

He said the teachers' bill of rights would empower "educators to be leaders in their classrooms, enact paycheck protection, reduce terms for school board members from 12 to eight years and invest another $1 billion in teacher pay."

“This is a huge package to increase teacher pay, support teacher empowerment and protect teachers’ paychecks by ensuring they have control over their hard-earned salary,” said DeSantis.

The proposed legislation comes at a time when teachers say they're forced to work multiple jobs to make ends meet. Inflation and rising housing costs due to the statewide housing shortage have made it impossible for teachers to live on the salaries Florida teachers are paid, said Andrew Spar, president of the Florida Education Association, which represents the state's teachers unions.

At a Hillsborough County School Board meeting Tuesday night, one teacher burst into tears as she described how more demands are being placed on teachers while salaries have decreased due to the higher cost of living.

Another teacher said she personally knows teachers living in their cars because they can no longer afford the rent for an apartment.

Since 2020, DeSantis said he has secured more than $2 billion for teacher salaries, calling it the largest pay increase for teachers in Florida history. This money has allowed Florida to start new teachers at an average salary of $48,000 for the 2022-2023 school year, about $500 more than the previous starting salary for teachers.

That pay measure has been a bone of contention among veteran teachers who are leaving the profession in droves because they now earn little more than first-year teachers.

Kim Hudson, a teacher in Levy County for 21 years, said she only makes $2,000 more than her daughter who's been a teacher in the same county for five years.

“We have now, in our district, teachers with nine or 10 years of experience earning about the same amount of money as teachers who are new to our district,” said Tina Certain, chairwoman of the Alachua County School Board.

"We, the teachers and staff in the state of Florida, are so underpaid we are struggling to afford rent, increases in insurance and many of our other bills," Spar said. "Due to this tangled web of laws and rules governing teacher pay, teachers with years in the classroom continue to experience penalties that can lead them to making little more than newly hired teachers and well less than what they expected to make at this point in their careers."

Patch has asked DeSantis' office for a response to criticism from teachers; this story will be updated when we receive comment.

DeSantis acknowledged the disparity and said his proposed teacher bill of rights is intended to remedy the problem.

“You can have one teacher who makes a huge difference in the lives of these students and we’re recognizing that and we’re gonna make sure we do everything to make Florida continue to be the education state,” the governor said.

The GOP governor elected to a second term in November said he is proposing an additional $200 million to raise teacher pay, bringing the total to $1 billion for teacher salaries in his recommended budget for the 2023-24 year.

School districts will be able to apply their portion of the $200 million to either raising the starting salaries of teachers or providing salary increases for veteran teachers and other eligible instructional personnel.

Targeting Teachers' Unions

In addition to an additional $200 million for teacher pay, DeSantis said he plans to take measures to ensure that teachers are able to keep more money from their paychecks by demanding more accountability and transparency from teachers' unions.

“We want more transparency into how school unions operate, and we are going to fight against school union haggling that holds teachers and their salary increases hostage," he said. "Partisan groups should not be given special privileges."

Under his proposal, school unions would be required to represent at least 60 percent of eligible school employees, an increase over the current 50 percent required. Additionally, he wants the state to investigate unions suspected of fraud, waste and abuse and require annual audits and financial disclosures of unions.

Spar called this an attempt on DeSantis' part to divide unions and disrupt their ability to effectively negotiate on behalf of teachers.

"More than 150,000 teachers, staff and professors in Florida have found their voices by joining together in their local, state and national unions," Spar said. "Standing up for what is right has put a big target on our backs. Gov. DeSantis continues to show that anyone that is not in locked in step with him will face his pyre, whether it's Disney, an elected state attorney, elected school board members, the school district superintendent or now us."

He believes DeSantis' attack on unions will backfire.

"The attempts to divide us will not deter us because we know a profession united will never be divided," Spar said. "We respect parents. We respect the voice of our colleagues who sacrifice so much every day. We don't need to go back to 1950. We need to move forward to 2050."

He said DeSantis is attempting to mask his own failings by attacking unions.

"The governor can put out all of the misinformation he wants to but the facts remain the facts," Spar said. "Florida continues to face a massive shortage of teachers and support staff, leaving thousands of students in classrooms without a professionally trained teacher. Instead of improving under Gov. DeSantis, the problem has only accelerated."

Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. defended the governor.

“From Day 1, Gov. Ron DeSantis has made it his mission to raise teacher pay and elevate educators in the classroom — and he has succeeded,” said Diaz. “Today’s announcement goes another step further to provide historic funding for teachers’ salaries and ensure they have control over their classrooms and paychecks."

Empowering Teachers, Or Not

Since taking office in 2018, DeSantis said education has been a top priority. He said that's evident in legislation passed establishing more student and parental rights in schools, including parental oversight of school textbooks and library books prohibiting discussions of sexual orientation or gender identity in grades three and under; requiring parents to be notified of any health or support services offered to their children in school; allowing parents to opt out of sex education and lessons educating their kids about sexually transmitted diseases; and forbidding critical race theory to be taught in public schools.

DeSantis acknowledged, however, that rules protecting teachers have never been spelled out by the Legislature. He said his proposal would remedy that oversight by:

• Establishing a new process for people to notify the state of a violation of teachers' rights and ensure that the Department of Education investigates those claims.
• Empowering teachers to maintain safe classroom environments by creating a “stand your ground” classroom safety policy to protect teachers who are "often judged unfairly for maintaining order and safety in their classrooms."
• Clarifying that teachers have the choice to join their local teachers' union and will not face any repercussions if they opt not to join.
• Providing civil remedies for teachers who are asked to violate Florida law and "punished by their employers for standing up for what is right."

Furthermore, to ensure that school boards are acting in the best interests of Florida’s teachers and students, DeSantis said his proposal would also reduce term limits for school board members from 12 years to eight years and make school board elections partisan. All school board elections are currently nonpartisan.

A joint resolution backing DeSantis' proposal has been filed by Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, and Rep. Spencer Roach, R-Fort Myers, that would:

• Prohibit any union representing public employees from having its dues and assessments deducted by the public employee’s employer.
• Require employees to submit a form acknowledging that Florida is a right-to-work state and union participation is optional.
• Require school unions to annually notify members of the cost of membership.
• Prohibit the distribution of union materials at the workplace.
• Prevent union officials from being paid more than the highest-paid union member.
• Prohibit union work while on the clock for taxpayer-funded jobs.
• Prohibit school board members and superintendents from accepting a personal or work-related benefit such as a secret “office account” from a school union.

Spar said he believes DeSantis' legislation is designed to further alienate teachers from the unions and school boards that support them and defend their rights.

"Florida continues to face a massive shortage of teachers and support staff, leaving thousands of students in classrooms without a professionally trained teacher," Spar said. "Instead of improving under Gov. DeSantis, the problem has only accelerated. In January 2018, there were 1,400 or so vacancies advertised on Florida school district websites. As of January of 2023, that number now stands at over 5,200 vacancies."

For more information on DeSantis' proposed bill of rights for teachers, click here.