Florida falls towards the back of the pack out of the best states for teachers, according to a new report.
Florida ranked 28th on the list, below the 50 percent mark for the best states for teachers.
The WalletHub report analyzed the 50 states and the District of Columbia across two key dimensions, including job opportunity and competition as well as academic and work environment.
The report also took competitive salaries and job security into strong consideration and as a result, assigned a heavier weight to the first category.
The site evaluated these categories using 16 different metrics, some of which included the average starting salary for teachers, teachers’ income growth potential, public school enrollment growth and teacher effectiveness.
"In order to help educators find the best teaching opportunities in the country and draw attention to the states needing improvement in this regard, WalletHub analyzed the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 16 key metrics, ranging from the average starting salary, to pupil-to-teacher ratio, to school safety," WalletHub wrote.
Florida received 51 points out of 100 possible points in the survey, ranking 31 out of 51 for job opportunity and competition and 22 out of 51 for academic and work environment.
A teacher working in the Sunshine State makes an average of $51,000, but that number can be higher or lower depending on the county a teacher works in and how much education and experience they have.
In the top ranked state, New Jersey, teachers make an average of $63,000 and the median salary is still higher than Florida’s at $57,000.
Per-pupil spending in Florida is about $7,100 this year but will increase to over $7,300 next year. Florida has allocated nearly $21 billion to state education, but some have criticized state officials for not investing as much money as possible to promote education and a positive environment for teachers.
"Florida's public schools and their students continue to make gains despite tepid financial support from the state," said Mark Pudlow, a spokesman for the union. "When adjusted for inflation, this proposed budget still doesn't equal what we were investing on our public schools a decade ago."
Turnover rates are high for teachers, with around a fifth of newly minted public school teachers leaving their positions before the end of their first year. Nearly half of public school teachers don’t even make it to the five-year mark in their teaching careers.
“Job pressures, low pay and lack of mobility force many teachers to quit soon after they start, leading to a perpetual attrition problem in America’s public schools,” Wallethub wrote.
Teacher shortages plagued some Florida districts this year, with many scrambling to find teachers to fill classrooms.
WalletHub’s study comes on the heels of a national Learning Policy Institute report which ranked Florida 42nd in the nation for “teaching attractiveness.” The ranking considered factors like the percentage of teachers worried about job security because it was tied to student test scores and the percentage of teachers who felt they were able to teach to their own style and have "control in their classroom."
To view the full report, click here.
Reach reporter Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen.
