Florida teachers still not receiving higher pay despite law change

| 2/10/2022

Florida teachers still not receiving higher pay despite law change

After passing a new law to increase teacher salaries in 2020, Florida still has not delivered the minimum pay it promised to every teacher in the state. In June 2020, DeSantis signed the legislature’s House Bill 641, which approved $500 million of the state’s budget to increase the minimum or base salaries of all teachers in Florida. From those funds, $400 million was dedicated to raise base pay for full-time teachers in the classroom, and $100 million for increasing salaries for “Florida’s veteran teachers and other instructional personnel.” [Source: WFLA]

Higher education accreditation changes sought

The bill would prevent colleges and universities from being accredited by the same agency for consecutive accreditation cycles. An overview of accreditation by the Congressional Research Service said renewal “takes place on a cycle that may range from every few years to as many as 10 years.” The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges is the accrediting agency for Florida’s higher-education institutions. [Source: News Service of Florida]

Pandemic woes coupled by inflation start to hit colleges nationwide including Florida

Citing the higher cost of everything from energy to food, in addition to upward pressure on wages and benefits, several institutions have already announced tuition and fee hikes for next year. That includes Florida universities as well, which could raise undergraduate tuition for the first time in nearly a decade as state leaders look for ways to make up a projected $2.7 billion budget shortfall. [Source: WGFL]

12 school districts could lose $200 million for defying ban on mask mandate

Twelve Florida districts could lose millions of dollars in state funding next year. Statehouse education leaders call it a consequence for their decision to defy the state’s ban on mask mandates. The 12 districts include Brevard, Broward, Duval, Hillsborough, Indian River, Leon, Miami-Dade, Orange, Palm Beach, Sarasota and Volusia Counties. They are facing a $200 million budget loss collectively. [Source: Click Orlandno]

Enrollment in reading initiative ticks up slowly

About 17 percent of eligible students have enrolled in a $200 million state initiative to deliver free books to the homes of struggling elementary-school readers since a sign-up period opened in October. Lawmakers last year created the New Worlds Reading Initiative, a priority of House Speaker Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor. Sprowls said last year he expected the book-delivery program to accelerate an effort to reach a state goal of 90 percent of third-grade students reading on grade level by 2030. [Source: News Serviice of Florida]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Florida Poly sees 30% surge in applications for the second year in a row [Florida Trend]
The number of freshmen applying to Florida Polytechnic University for fall 2022 has leapt 30% ahead of the same point in 2021 while out-of-state applications are up 61%. The surge comes as many higher education institutions across the country continue to struggle with enrollment. According to a report by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, undergraduate enrollment declined by more than a million students nationally from fall 2019 to fall 2021. At public four-year colleges, enrollment fell by 3.8%.

› Florida high school seniors get reprieve on graduation test scores [Tampa Bay Times]
Florida high school seniors who haven’t yet passed their required graduation tests in language arts and math won’t have to meet the higher bar that was supposed to take effect this spring. The changes, approved by the State Board of Education on Wednesday, should help hundreds of Tampa Bay area teens earn a diploma this year.

› The Florida Lottery reaches $41 billion in contributions to education [WPEC]
The Florida Lottery announced its latest transfer of money has brought its overall contributions to education to more than $41 billion. The lottery pays the state’s Educational Enhancement Trust Fund. The amount of $41 billion is over the past 34 years since the state lottery began in 1998.

› Pinellas will give public a say before choosing a new school superintendent [Tampa Bay Times]
During the latest in a series of off-camera meetings Tuesday, the Pinellas County School Board dove deeper into the work of hiring a new superintendent. Board members learned about a series of 6 p.m. community meetings scheduled Feb. 23, 24 and 28 at Pinellas Park, Countryside and St. Petersburg high schools. They made revisions to an online survey, deciding they were more concerned about their district’s strategic plan than with issues such as growth and rezoning that are not relevant in built-out Pinellas.

Tags: Education eNews

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