Florida ranks second-to-last in nation for average teacher pay, says report

After hovering close to dead-last in the nation for average teacher pay for years, the state of Florida has dropped even further. The Sunshine State sits second-to-last in national rankings of all 50 states and the District of Columbia this year, according to a new report released by the National Education Association.

According to the NEA, a labor union representing over 3 million educators and school staff in the United States, Florida’s average teacher salary of $53,098 is the lowest in the entire country, behind only West Virginia, where average pay is $52,870.

Florida was ranked No. 48 in the nation last year, and is ranked No. 50 this year.

This puts the state — which has launched multiple political attacks on teachers and their unions in recent years — below pay rankings even among other Southern, right-to-work states where teachers’ unions either aren’t legally allowed to collectively bargain or otherwise have limited resources and power to negotiate higher pay for teachers.

This new ranking from the NEA, pulling data from the 2022-2023 school year, is a drop from last year’s rankings, where Florida ranked No. 48 in average teacher pay. Nationwide, the NEA’s new report shows that the annual teacher salary actually increased 4.1 percent, reaching $69,544.

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Clinton McCracken, president of the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association — a local NEA affiliate representing roughly 13,600 teachers and school staff — says the state is “failing our students” with its lack of investment.

“It's imperative for elected officials to take decisive action to restore respect for teachers and ensure that they can afford to live, pay bills and support their families,” McCracken told Orlando Weekly in a statement. “The state is failing our students when it refuses to address fair and competitive pay for educators as this exacerbates the critical teacher and staff shortage in Florida.”

Teacher shortages in Florida schools have been a chronic and worsening problem over the past couple of years, with some school districts at times seeing dozens of vacancies in instructional and support staff positions.

Teachers and their unions blame this issue, in part, on non-competitive pay amidst an increase in Florida’s cost of living, pricing public educators out of their own communities, or otherwise forcing them to find a job that can better support themselves and their families. State officials, meanwhile, have argued that Florida has “championed” policies to improve the teaching profession.

“Teachers shouldn’t have to take on second and third jobs in order to pay their bills,” said McCracken. The Orange County teachers’ union recently ratified a new union contract that delivers a near 10 percent raise for most teachers in the district, and raises starting teacher pay to $49,375, up from $48,400.

That places Orange County’s starting teacher pay above Florida’s state average, according to the NEA report, where Florida is ranked No. 16. Florida’s comparatively higher minimum pay for teachers in the state is an accomplishment Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis takes every opportunity to tout — despite concerns raised by teachers’ unions over the years that, while minimum pay for teachers goes up, longtime teachers continue to see wage compression. That is, there’s little difference in educators’ pay regardless of their years of experience.

Andrew Spar, president of the statewide teachers’ union, hasn’t been shy about where he places blame for Florida’s position in national pay rankings. “Time and time again, anti-education politicians say they support teachers — but the proof is undeniable,” Spar said in a statement. “In the past five and a half years since Governor DeSantis took office, Florida's public-school teachers have experienced a stagnant and declining average salary.”

The Florida Education Association, representing over 150,000 educators and school staff in Florida, has called on state legislators to increase education funding by $2.5 billion a year for the next seven years to address issues such as pay, the hiring of more mental health specialists in schools, and other services to support students’ academic success.

Gov. DeSantis has yet to either receive or approve the state budget approved by state lawmakers for the 2024-2025 fiscal year — a budget proposal that the FEA stated they disapprove of for lack of sufficient investment.

Options for protest, however are limited. Florida teachers are legally prohibited from engaging in any sort of strike, and can face fines or even lose their teaching licenses for doing so. This hasn’t stopped educators in other no-strike states such as West Virginia or Massachusetts from launching illegal strikes, which have historically stemmed from issues such as stagnant wages, proposed increases to healthcare costs, and disinvestment in public education that leaves schools ill-equipped to properly staff and address issues in schools.

DeSantis has proposed funding for teacher pay hikes in his own budget proposals (and has in the recent past tried to recruit military veterans to fill in teacher shortages), but the process for how this funding trickles down to local school districts is not terribly straightforward, and has generally caused finger-pointing between the Governor’s office, local school districts, and the teachers’ unions.

Union leaders have emphasized that sufficiently compensating educators and investing sufficient funding into public education isn’t just meant to benefit teachers themselves, but also the students they teach.

“Every student, regardless of race or place, deserves caring, qualified, committed educators,” said Becky Pringle, president of NEA, in a statement. “And every educator needs our fierce support in helping them inspire imagination, curiosity, and a love of learning and to provide the skills students need to thrive in their brilliance.”

According to the new report, the state of California, New York, and Massachusetts have the highest average teacher salaries , while Alabama, New Mexico, and Mississippi saw the largest increases over the last year to average teacher salaries.

This story was first published at our sister publication Orlando Weekly.

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