Gov. Rick Scott came close to getting exactly what he wanted for teachers on Sunday -- close enough that he and Florida Education Association (FEA) President Andy Ford jointly applauded the House and the Senates agreement to implement $480 million in teacher pay raises.
The language accompanying the funding allows districts the flexibility to develop their own performance plans to award the greatest number of teachers the largest teacher pay raise possible, in coordination with their collective bargaining agreements.
The $480 million in funding provides enough to give every teacher a minimum of a $2,000 pay raise, while also giving districts the ability to provide teacher raises of $2,500 or even $3,500 - depending on the plan each of the 67 school districts (plus lab and charter schools) develop.
Scott said, I want to thank the House and the Senate for ensuring that we build on our work to implement performance pay, while also allowing school districts the flexibility to use the $480 million in new funding to give every Florida teacher a pay raise. Our teachers are some of the best in the nation and they deserve to be rewarded for their great work.
FEA President Andy Ford said, FEA thanks Governor Scott for his efforts to provide an immediate across-the-board pay increase to Florida's classroom teachers in recognition of their demonstrated performance which has brought Florida's education system to sixth in the nation. FEA applauds the infusion of additional resources into public education as was proposed by the governor."
