This week, Florida. Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a substantial $1.25 billion allocation for teacher salary increases over the next five years. School choice advocates say this trend in teacher salary increases follows the implementation of school choice policy in a state that has been seen in several other states that have also implemented universal school choice policies.
One of those groups is the American Federation for Children (AFC), the nation’s leading school choice advocacy organization. AFC was instrumental in working with Florida lawmakers to pass a school choice policy in the state. They say competition in education shows a correlation between school choice policy and improved salaries for educators.
The announcement comes after Florida enacted Universal School Choice. This policy has been instrumental in driving educational advancements and teacher salary increases in several states that have enacted universal school choice.
“Efforts to improve educator salaries, as seen in Florida, serve as an important reminder that the national school choice movement is an effort to improve education nationwide as a whole, and Florida is serving as the top example of what our nation’s educational system could look like if school choice policy was enacted nationwide,” says Shaka Mitchell, who serves as a Senior Fellow for the American Federation for Children.
But after Gov. DeSantis’ announcement of the $1.25 billion increase, the teacher’s union, Florida Education Association, said the pay increase wasn’t enough and mentioned they would be happier if the governor raised salaries by $2.5 billion over the next seven years.
DeSantis said his office has invested more than $4 billion for teacher pay increases since he became governor.
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