As the school year is set to begin, there are fewer open teacher positions in Central Florida public schools compared to last year.
Across the board, districts are reporting few to no teacher vacancies.
In Orange County, 0.5% of teaching jobs are vacant, while less than 2% need to be filled in Brevard. Flagler has no teacher vacancies.
Even in districts with more openings – Seminole has 20, Osceola 56, Volusia 66, Marion 71 and Polk 250 – numbers are lower than last year.
These numbers support Gov. Ron DeSantis' assertion last week that teacher vacancies in the state have improved.
DeSantis said there are 17.7% fewer teacher vacancies ahead of the school year across the state.
The Florida Education Association, the statewide teachers union, said it will release its analysis later this month.
The governor said higher teacher pay, an expanded teacher apprenticeship program and a pathway for veterans who want to teach have helped train, recruit and retain more teachers in the Sunshine State.
"We've dedicated more than $5.9 billion toward teachers and pay increases. We've expanded the number of pathways for qualified individuals. We have our teacher apprenticeship program right now, more than 80 individuals are receiving on-the-job training from veteran teachers while they pursue their teaching certification. And nearly 500 more have applied for the program," said DeSantis.
"More than 100 military veterans have begun their teaching career through a temporary teaching certificate, through our military veterans certification pathway, and nearly 700 more have applied for the program."
DeSantis asked for $1.5 billion for teacher pay increases in his February budget request. The Legislature approved $1.36 billion. DeSantis said he'll be asking lawmakers for more money for teachers next year, too.
"And I'm really, really excited about the ability for teachers to get those raises, and we'll come back for more next year when the Legislature comes back in. ... I asked for more than what was eventually gotten. I think we can do better, and we're going to push to do better," said DeSantis.
At the height of Florida's most recent teacher shortage in 2023, directly coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic when many teachers retired early or left the profession, Florida needed more than 7,000 teachers.
Those numbers have steadily improved in recent years, topping only about 3,000 vacancies by the last Florida Education Association count in January.
The FEA says improved teacher pay, better working conditions, and more streamlined and supportive pathways to teacher certification will continue to attract and keep more teachers in the profession.
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