We received more than a thousand responses from people when we asked the top three reasons behind teacher shortages. The national data from Brown University shows Florida leads the nation in teacher shortages, but doesn’t explain why.
But, we don’t need data to prove teachers prepare the next generation of doctors, lawyers, workers everywhere, and in some cases teachers spend more time with our kids than we do.
Also, after our story aired, the Florida Department of Education reached out to us with this statement that reads in part:
“Governor DeSantis has also led several initiatives designed to elevate and celebrate Florida teachers while recruiting top talent. These include:
- The state invested $1.1 billion, an increase of $252 million, to continue to raise salaries for new and veteran teachers. Since 2020, Florida has invested more than $3 billion to increase teacher pay.
- Establishing the Military Veterans Certification Pathway to provide a five-year temporary educator certificate to eligible veterans.
- Implementing a recruitment bonus for retired military veterans and retired first responders who commit to joining the teaching profession for a minimum of two years.
- Provides a bonus of $4,000 for military veterans and retired first responders.
- Provides an additional $1,000 for individuals teaching in high demand teacher needs areas.
- Providing initial certification exam and application fee waivers for military and first responders.
- Creating the Teacher Apprenticeship Program and mentor bonus, to provide individuals who have their associate degree the ability to participate in a two-year, registered apprenticeship program at no cost to the apprentice. Educators who serve as mentors to teacher apprentices will receive $2,000 upon completion of year one and $2,000 upon completion of year two of the program.
- Extending the temporary certification time period from three years to five to provide educators additional time to meet the requirements to receive a Florida Professional Educators Certificate.
- Expanding adjunct certification to support charter schools and extending the validity period of the adjunct certification to five years.
- Creating the Teacher Internship Certification Program which allows individuals who are enrolled in a state-approved teacher preparation program and have not earned a baccalaureate’s degree to work with a supervisor while in the classroom and complete their baccalaureate degree.
- Investing $3.5 million to develop the Dual Enrollment Teacher Scholarship Program to support public school teachers in obtaining a master’s degree in their area of certification to allow them to teach dual enrollment courses and increase access to college level courses to students.
- Offering reciprocity for educators who hold a currently valid out-of-state certificate or National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certificate so they can come teach in Florida.
- Reducing barriers such as allowing a master’s degree to satisfy the General Knowledge Exam and certain Subject Area Exams and also providing an opportunity to waive these exams under certain circumstances to increase the pipeline of high-quality teachers.
We responded with the following questions:
- Is any of this working to improve teacher shortages in the state? If so please share the data to support it.
- Why is there a teacher shortage in Florida?
- What is the current number of teacher vacancies in Florida?
- What is the average salary for starting and veteran teachers in Florida?
The Department of Education responded with links to their data:
The Florida Department of Education surveys districts at the beginning of each year to collect day one teacher vacancy data. Please see the Department’s press release from the 2023-2024 school year: Florida Teacher Vacancies Drop Nearly 10% Year-Over-Year (fldoe.org).
The Department will collect these data again at the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year.
Additionally, the teacher salary data is published on our website. Please visit: Staff (fldoe.org).
Regarding the bonuses for military veterans and retired first responders. Please see Section 1012.715, Florida Statutes.
Hundreds of News4JAX viewers shared opinions of why they think there is a teacher shortage, many citing lack of pay, hours, stress, and politics.
We checked teacher job openings for some Northeast Florida counties.
As of Thursday, Clay County has 47 openings dating back to 2023
Nassau County has 17 openings, also dating to 2023.
Duval has 236 openings, dating back to 2020.
TEACHER JOBS: Duval County Public Schools | Nassau County Schools | Clay County Schools
“I would say it’s much more about retaining our teachers, then recruiting new ones, for sure,” said Brian McLogan who taught at Mandarin High School for 14 years.
He reached out to News4JAX after seeing our story on teacher shortages.
He said he wishes there was a focus on retaining high quality educators and understanding their needs.
“I think what saddens me the most is, is seeing, you know teachers, sorry this always gets me but, you know seeing teachers just realizing that the occupation is not for them,” he said.
The Florida Department of Education says the state has invested $1.1 billion to raise salaries for new and veteran teachers, offering intern and apprenticeship programs for teacher, and more.
McLogan said while pay is important, he said there seems to be more concern with grades, testing, and meeting state requirements for classroom instruction, that’s creating a disconnect, leaving teacher stuck in the middle.
“If it’s not a job that’s enjoyable, if you’re just paying people more, they’re just going to be miserable and you’re just going to get the same results with more money. So, you know, I really do think it’s a focus on creating the job environment that’s going to attract and retain our best teachers,” he said.
Another educator reached out saying it’s not about the money, and that the circumstances need to change more than the paychecks.
They also say it’s impossible to teach when you have almost 40 students in the classroom.