In this Thursday, March 11, 2021 file photo desks are arranged in a classroom at an elementary school in Nosquehoning, Pa. (AP PHOTO/MATT SLOCUM, FILE)

Florida Education Association warns that state has nearly 5,000 teaching vacancies

WMNF | By Seàn Kinane | August 12, 2021

A major Florida teachers’ union is warning that there are nearly 5,000 teaching vacancies and more than 3,700 open staff jobs in the state.

The Florida Education Association (FEA) said those are the results of surveys of advertised vacancies for teachers and education support staff. “The surveys are conducted the week before Aug. 10, in early October and in early January,” according to an FEA press release.

The FEA is concerned that “More than 450,000 of our students may head back to school without full-time, certified teachers in their classrooms.”

According to the FEA, the 5,000 teaching vacancies “represents an increase of more than 67 percent from August 2020, when there were 2,962 advertised positions. It is a 38.7 percent increase over the vacancies reported pre-pandemic in August 2019.”