What else does Florida’s new anti-teacher union law include?
Tampa Bay Times | Jeffrey S. Solochek | May 4, 2026
When Gov. Ron DeSantis signed two education-related bills Friday, much of the attention went to the provisions directed at further regulating teacher unions.
That was, after all, where DeSantis directed most of his comments. He trashed unions as leftist, often using examples from Chicago and California to justify why their certification elections should face higher hurdles. Union leaders responded by blasting DeSantis as anti-worker.
“We would like to see our state government focus on passing a budget that adequately funds public education instead of passing bills that serve no real purpose,” said Jeff Larsen, United School Employees of Pasco president.
Mostly glossed over went other aspects of HB 1279, which DeSantis referred to primarily to note how it, too, would push unions to the side by allowing districts to give teacher incentives at low-performing schools without collective bargaining.
The legislation, cobbled together in the final hours of the spring session, includes many provisions that will impact K-12 and higher education. Originally a proposal to limit international student enrollment at state universities, the bill no longer included that item as lawmakers revised it to add several other ideas that are now signed into law.
Here’s some of what the new law does:
• Clarifies rules relating to student use and school provision of epinephrine delivery devices in school
• Permits middle school students to earn up to two CAPE Digital Tools certificates per year
• Allows high school students to substitute two years of participation in marching band for their graduation requirements in both physical education and performing arts
• Requires the Department of Education to create alternative mathematics pathways including applied algebra that students may pursue for high school graduation, which also will count toward state university admissions
• Requires the State Board of Education to establish a statewide uniform weighting of grades for honors and accelerated courses
• Updates university accreditation requirements to include a wider range of accrediting agencies
• Asserts that a person may not lose in-state resident status for university tuition purposes if serving outside the state as military active duty or civilian personnel, including working for the U.S. departments of Defense or State
• Establishes a teacher bonus and added per-student funding for students who successfully complete state-created advanced high school courses
