At a time when membership in the teacher’s union is flagging, with interest growing thin for this thinly-veiled socialist organization, Florida’s largest teacher union is suing the state, accusing it of not investing enough in schools.
Florida Education Association President Andrew Spar said the state failed to ensure a high-quality, uniform system of public education as required by the state constitution. He said suing the state is a last resort to make sure Florida classrooms get the money they need.
“You hear about positions being eliminated, programs being cut, employees being laid off, students being in larger and larger classes,” Spar said.
Spar pointed to several areas, including the money in the universal school choice program, with different transparency requirements. He said Florida ranked 41st on per-student spending and last in average teacher pay, forcing many to leave.
According to the lawsuit, approximately $5 billion a year of public tax dollars are taken away from public schools to charter and voucher systems. Nearly a quarter of the state’s education budget goes to voucher programs.
The FEA said Florida ranks 50th in the nation in average teacher salary, and over 60% of education staff professionals make less than $35,000 a year, forcing many to leave.
“That’s a disruption in learning. That’s way too common in the state of Florida. Too many students, hundreds of thousands are impacted by this constant churn and by the teacher and staff shortage,” Spar said.
State leaders disagree with these claims, pointing to money state lawmakers set aside specifically for teacher raises and increasing the per student base, which are expected to stay in the upcoming state budget.
Gov. Ron DeSantis blamed teachers’ unions for blocking the money from reaching teachers across the state during a news conference Friday.
“What some of these school unions are doing, even though the money is available July 1 when the fiscal year starts, they were withholding that in negotiations,” DeSantis said.
Senate K-12 Education Chair Corey Simon said the problem comes down to how districts are using various state funds.
“You have districts that went out and picked up recurring costs on nonrecurring dollars. Now they want to come to the state for budgets that have gotten out of whack instead of putting that money in the hands of teachers,” Simon said.
Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia told the Gray Florida Capital Bureau he’s going to audit school districts across the state.
During a news conference in Tallahassee on Tuesday, he said schools have the money now if they make the right cuts.
“There is more than enough room for them to cut the administration costs, deliver a world-class education, and still give teachers raises,” Ingoglia said.
Lawmakers will be back in Tallahassee for the budget special session starting next week. That session will last three weeks.
