South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Fla. house looks into teacher pay boost
TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis has had a relatively easy time getting what he wants from his fellow Republicans in charge of the Legislature, but his latest proposal to boost the starting pay for new teachers to $47,500 a year is likely to provide the sternest test yet of his political clout.
Democrats and teachers unions already want more details – will it apply to all instructional personnel or just classroom teachers? What happens to veteran teachers – will their pay stay flat? And House Republicans, led by Speaker Jose Oliva, could have sticker shock at its $603 million price tag.
Oliva has issued a tepid acknowledgment of DeSantis’ plan that stressed his desire to balance the budget — an implication that cuts would have to be made to find the funding for his plan.
On Thursday, the House PreK-12 Education budget committee followed his lead, digging into the subject of teacher pay increases while emphasizing that other programs would likely have to see cuts.
Committee Chairman Rep. Chris Latvala said the House isn’t likely to agree to an increase in local property taxes used to pay for public education.
“I would assume based on past legislators that [the local property tax rate for schools] is something that we would keep rolled back,” Latvala, R-Clearwater, told reporters after the meeting.
He was referring to the “roll back” rate for property taxes, meaning the reduced rate needed to generate the same revenue as the previous year, factoring in increases in property values.
DeSantis’ official budget recommendation isn’t due until December, a month before lawmakers begin the 2020 legislative session. But he previously said he
would support keeping the property tax rate level and relying on increasing property values to boost revenues for schools.
Meanwhile, the Florida Education Association, the largest teachers union in the state, is poised to kick off a five-week, statewide bus tour in Orlando on Friday to rally for more teacher pay.
FE A officials have praised DeSantis’ plan as a first step but want to see pay raises extended to all teachers, not just new ones.
DeSantis’ plan is designed to address a shortage and high turnover of teachers across the state. The FEA complains the Legislature has consistently underfunded PreK-12 schools, leading the state to rank near the bottom among states for average teacher salaries.
Statewide, 117,243 classroom teachers, or nearly 68 percent, make less than $50,000, according to the Department of Education. For new teachers, the average is $38,000; in Central Florida it’s slightly higher, at $40,000, for first-year teachers.
“We are taking the case for PreK-12 public education and higher education straight to the people — to the parents, students and communities who have been directly impacted by more than two decades of underfunding and poor policy decisions,” FEA President Fedrick Ingram said in a statement. “It is long past time to invest in students, invest in public schools, and invest in the teachers and school support staff needed to educate Florida’s children.”
In addition to the pay raises for teachers, the FEA wants salary increases for other school staff, such as counselors, social workers, psychologists and librarians.
Latvala agrees that Florida’s teacher shortage is a problem and boosting teacher salaries could help, but he also suggested the money would have to come from cuts.
“Ultimately it’s going to come down to finding that money,” Latvala said.
One source could be bonuses that GOP lawmakers have used in lieu of salary hikes in recent years to try to recruit and retain teachers. DeSantis suggested getting rid of the controversial $285 million Best and Brightest program that awards bonuses to teachers based on their school’s grade.
Latvala said he is a supporter of the Best and Brightest program but that “everything is on the table.”
Democrats on Thursday stressed they want any salary increase to extend to all school personnel, not just classroom teachers.
“There are teachers that have never been included in any type of bonus we’ve had,” Rep. Tracie Davis, DJacksonville, told Latvala.
Even if DeSantis gets his plan through the Legislature, it’s not certain that all school districts will put all of the money toward teacher salary increases.
Teacher pay is negotiated between school boards and local teachers’ unions each year, and while the amount of state funding plays a big role, the state can’t dictate the results of those negotiations.
Still, a push from a governor and a “suggestion” from the Legislature that additional money be spent on teacher raises would likely result in a pay raise of some kind for most districts.
That’s what happened in 2013, when then-Gov. Rick Scott pushed for and won a boost for teachers, then cajoled school districts to put the raises in place.
One other thing could put a halt to DeSantis’ plan: an economic downturn or recession. State economists have cautioned lawmakers that after an extended run of more than a decade, a downturn could be on the horizon.
Latvala said that could kill any talk of a large pay increase.
“Oh yeah, it is a real concern; we have to keep our budgets balanced,” Latvala said. “We’re not going to raise taxes, and so we have to make sure that the money’s there, and we’re going to do everything that we can to find it.”