FL Senate and House separately say ‘wages yes, bonuses no’

Very encouraged by Florida Legislature education budget proposals

On Monday this week, the Florida Senate Appropriations Subcommittee released their proposed education budget, and then on Wednesday the Florida House Appropriations Subcommittee released their version of the education budget for the 2020 Legislative session.

While there are differences between these initial budgets there are several common themes. The biggest has to do with following Gov. DeSantis’s request to increase teachers’ base salaries. The other is that both the Senate and House proposed budgets that focus on increasing teacher annual salaries, rather than offering teacher bonuses. Bonuses that have often tied to students’ state assessment test scores and/or schools’ grades that are also tied to students’ state assessment test scores.

While each chamber’s plans have specific positives and differences, I applaud both chambers for understanding the importance of salaries increases for teachers. Much of the differences and specifics are still to be worked out, and I would expect some issues to even have to be conferenced before we have a final budget. 

We need to thank Gov. DeSantis for setting the tone, and state leaders in both chambers for working very hard to try and help increase salaries for teachers, provide flexibility, and recognize that each district has different needs.  

For details of the two chamber’s budget versions follow this link to a good side-by-side comparison from the Florida School Board Association: https://fsba.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Summary-Comparison-January-2020-1.pdf 

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