The veto items includes $1.3 million for Miami-Dade County Eviction Prevention Program.(See story on Page 1B.) STOCK PHOTO

Miami – Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed an estimated $950 million in spending to trim the state’s budget to $116.5 billion for the 2024-2025 fiscal year which places an emphasis on increasing teachers’ salaries.

According to the National Education Association, Florida, which has one of the worst teaching shortages in the U.S., is ranked 48th in the nation for average public school teacher pay at $55,626.

The average teacher’s salary is not enough for teachers to cover their personal expenses including mortgage, rent and travel.

As a result, myriad teachers are leaving the profession in record numbers, as the state and school districts are struggling to fill about 5,000 vacancies.

One initiative in the works is Miami-Dade County Public Schools’ partnership with the Teacher Accelerator Program to streamline the pathway into the profession by offering the positions to college students who didn’t major in education.

The program offers interested individuals a one-semester course and a paid sixweek summer internship.

Successful completion leads to state certification and a guaranteed teaching position in a Miami-Dade public school.

The idea, so far, has had little impact for the 2023-2024 school year but school officials are optimistic it will be more effective during next year and beyond.

But for the 69 school districts in Florida, DeSantis has made a commitment to approve a historic teacher salary funding increase of $1.25 billion in the budget for 163,558 teachers.

That averages out to one teacher for every 17 students compared to the national average of 1:16 during the 20232024 school year.

DeSantis said since 2019, Florida has invested over $4 billion for increases in teacher pay and raised starting teacher salaries by almost $10,000.

”Florida’s education system is number one in the nation, and we want to make sure good educators are attracted to Florida with attractive compensation,” DeSantis said during a news conference in Hialeah. “I am proud to have invested more than $4 billion for teacher pay increases since the beginning of my time in office, and I will continue to push for increased funding for Florida’s teachers.”

But some teachers unions said the budget amount is still not enough for teachers to meet the rising costs of living due to inflation and expressed concern over an uncertain economy.

The Florida Education Association teachers union said the money would have to be spread to roughly 200,000 educators and would not “move the needle” far enough.

“This $200 million equates to a salary increase in every classroom teacher’s paycheck of about $125 a month, and nowhere near the $15,000 annual increase needed to match the national average for teacher salaries,” union President Andrew Spar said in a statement. “The only thing the budget guarantees is that Florida’s teachers will remain near the bottom in average pay.”

The Florida Education Association has advocated for an additional $2.5 billion annually for public school teachers and students’ resources.

The state did provide an additional $3 billion to school districts for raises beginning in 2022, but negotiations with education unions resulted in raising the minimum salaries to $47,500.

DeSantis’ budget for education also includes $1.7 billion for early child education, including $438 million for Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten and school safety measures, and a record $28.4 billion in funding for the K-12 public school system.

For Florida college and universities, DeSantis’ budget keeps the higher education system at no or low tuition increases including $1.7 billion in state operating funds for Florida College System, $4.1 billion for State University System and $765 million for workforce education programs to ensure Florida students are prepared to fill high-demand, high-wage jobs.

The budget also invests over $173 million for Florida’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities including $20 million to beef up campus security.

In March of 2024, Florida Memorial University and Bethune-Cookman University reportedly received bomb threats as part of a string of similar calls to HBCUs nationwide.

In 2023, before 21-year-old Ryan Christopher killed three Blacks at Jacksonville Dollar Tree in what police described as a racially-motivated attack, he arrived on the campus of Edward Waters University but security turned him away when he failed to provide proper identification.

Also, in an effort to retain high-achieving students at state colleges and universities, the budget funds the projected student enrollment for the Bright Futures Scholarship Program at $617 million.

DeSantis’ veto of $950 million in spending from the budget included funding for local municipal projects and organizations advocating for social services and events that impact the Black community.

“Governments should strive to do more with less,” DeSantis said. “It can be done, and my action today cements that lesson for the nation.”

The veto items include: 

* $1.3 million for Miami-Dade County Eviction Prevention Program. 

* $1 million for the City of Homestead’s spetic to sewer conservation project. 

* $1 million for Lauderdale by the Sea’s public safety facility. 

* $1.5 million for the City of ft. Lauderdale’s sidewalk repairs 

* $1 million for Miami-Dade County’s Anti-Violence Initiative and Mental Health. 

* $1 million for Miami-Dade County Senior Congregate Meals program. 

* $600,000 for West Perrine’s Faith Base Support for at-risk youths activities and feeding senior citizens. 

* $300,000 for City of West Park youth Crime Prevention program. 

* $250,000 for the Broward County Student Athlete Mentoring program. 

* $400,000 for the City of Palm Beach Gardens Boulevard roadway improvement plan.

Also, DeSantis vetoed $160,000 for the annual Black History Month 5K run in Orlando and $200,000 for Florida’s Black Music Legacy program also in Orange County.