State education officials are reporting a 17.7% decrease in teacher vacancies for 2025-26, noting higher pay due to this year’s budget.
TAMPA, Fla. — Florida education officials announced a drop in teacher vacancies for the 2025-26 school year, crediting higher pay.
The state’s Department of Education said the vacancies are 17.7% lower than the 2024-36 school year, and vacancies have decreased by nearly 30% over the last two years, according to a news release.
“Florida continues to attract the best teaching talent because we have raised teacher pay, empowered our teachers in the classroom and created new pathways for Floridians to enter the teaching profession,” Commissioner of Education Anastasios Kamoutsas said.
In this year’s budget, Gov. Ron DeSantis approved $1.3 billion in pay raises for educators, which is about $20 per paycheck per teacher, according to the Florida Education Association, the state’s largest labor union.
“That $20 sends a clear message to every single educator in the state: when the Governor blames teachers, staff, and their unions for their own low pay, he really means that educators should be happy with scraps and a system that is making it harder for them to have a say in their own professions,” Florida Education Association officials said in a news release.
The National Education Association ranks Florida 50th for average teacher salary in the country. It said the average is $54,875, with a minimum living wage being $61,002.
In the Tampa Bay area, Hillsborough County alone has more than 400 instructional positions posted on its website. Pinellas County has 47 instructional/certified positions open, according to its website.
In the news release from the state department, officials highlight $5.9 billion that the state has put towards teacher and instructional personnel pay increases since DeSantis took office.
The Florida Education Association calls this “fuzzy math.” Association officials say the real cumulative figure is close to $1.3 billion as per the state department’s records.
Kamoutsas said teachers’ unions are just trying to “smear Florida’s education system.”