The state's largest teachers' union, the Florida Education Association (FEA), released its latest count for teacher vacancies.
The FEA tallies vacancies at the beginning of the school year in August and in the middle of the year this month.
The mid-year count shows that vacancies rose by about 100 — from 2,260 to 2,363.
"By the middle of the school year, most positions should already be filled. Instead, with thousands of vacancies still halfway through the year, the data reflects a larger problem: these vacancies aren’t just unfilled but are positions that districts simply can’t fill," said the report.
Teacher and staff vacancies can fluctuate throughout the year. The vacancy increase comes after last August's count showed an improvement in the shortage.
Polk County Schools saw the worst shortage in the latest with about 412 vacancies, according to the FEA list, which draws their numbers from school district websites.
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District officials, however, said the FEA count "might be a little misleading."
A district spokesperson said the openings listed on their website includes positions currently filled by long-term substitutes, as well as non-teacher instructional positions like counselors, psychologists, social workers, deans and speech language pathologists.
"This is so we have a better idea of our needs, in an effort to get more fully certified teachers and other instructional personnel in our classrooms," said the district spokesperson.
The actual number of teacher vacancies is closer to 300 out of 6,300 teacher positions, according to the district.
Not every district might include these positions in their vacancy numbers.
Stephanie Yocum is the president of the district's teachers' union, Polk Education Association. Yocum said even with the clarification, vacancies remain high.
"It doesn't make it better, like we have to fix the problem," she said, "And there are plenty of teachers in the state of Florida who are certified to teach. They don't want to teach anymore."
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Yocum pointed to state laws passed in recent years restricting what can be taught and said in classrooms.
Florida tops the nation when it comes to the number of book removals, prompted by groups seeking to limit what they say is explicit material. State law has made it easier to challenge what books are available in school libraries.
Yocum said her district also faces a disadvantage by not having a millage referendum like some nearby counties. That's an additional property tax that helps fund schools, including teacher pay.
"So what we're seeing in Polk is the result of our school board being a little behind the eight ball with running a millage referendum, and just the hostility of our state legislature through the laws they've passed."
Although Polk County Schools is the seventh largest school district in the state by student enrollment, Yocum said the lack of a dense urban center means a smaller local tax base, which has resulted in lower per pupil funding.
While school districts receive state and federal funding, they rely heavily on local dollars to finance budgets.
"So it's kind of a perfect storm in Polk and our state's not helping this at all," said Yocum.
Polk County voters will get a chance to vote for a millage referendum in November.
