Florida will give teachers raises and fully fund affordable housing, lawmakers say
TALLAHASSEE -- Florida will set aside at least $500 million for teacher raises in the upcoming budget year, according to the budget talks held over the weekend. That will help achieve the goal of raising a statewide minimum teacher salary of $47,500 as Gov. Ron DeSantis had asked.
It originally had appeared that $500 million would be the final number, after the House came down to meet that figure, which the Senate had proposed. But on Sunday, the Senate surprisingly upped their offer to $600 million, showing that this key piece of the state budget is not yet settled. DeSantis had requested $600 million.
The Legislature also put the nail in the coffin on teacher bonuses, despite DeSantis’ request for a new bonus program, saying they had learned from the controversies of the past.
“For the last several years we’ve tried to reward [teachers] through bonuses, and the message we’ve gotten back is, ‘Thanks but no thanks, we want a raise,’ ” said Rep. Chris Latvala, R-Clearwater, who chairs the House’s education budgeting committee.
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