The truth behind teacher pay in Florida

12 News | By Matt Lincoln | February 19, 2025

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (CBS12) — Governor Ron DeSantis announced record increases in teacher pay. The governor has called Florida’s education system the best in the nation.

Yet, a common refrain from people inside education circles, is that our teachers are some of the lowest paid in America.

So which is it? CBS12 News looked into the numbers, to see if Florida really is making the grade, when it comes to compensating our teachers.

“It’s been a really special year as far as my class goes,” says Renee Hawk – she teaches 2nd grade at a public school in Palm Beach Gardens. She loves her students, but admits, being a teacher these days is pretty demanding.

Renee Hawk is a 2nd grade teacher at a public school in Palm Beach Gardens. She loves her students, but admits, being a teacher these days is pretty demanding.

“Now I feel that we have a lot of hats to wear as professionals – not just expected to do the grading, the educating, and the planning, but also such as being a first aid provider or a counselor, therapist or a safety protocol expert, volunteer coordinators, and interior designers.”

This may be one of the reasons Governor DeSantis boasted about record increases to teacher pay last summer – committing an additional one and a quarter billion dollars in state money to boost teacher salaries.

But even with that, the National Education Association – a teachers’ union – ranks Florida second-to-last for teacher pay at an average salary of just over $53,000 dollars a year.

That’s $16,000 less than the national average, they say.

And $7,000 less than the salary of an average Florida worker.

But when we compare teacher’s income to other jobs, people often point out teachers get months of vacation that other workers don’t. So, we looked into that.

In Palm Beach County, public school teachers are required to work 196 days a year, or thirty-nine weeks.

A full-time worker with three weeks of vacation works forty-nine weeks a year.

So, when you take that average salary, and divide it by the amount of weeks worked – the average teacher makes about 132 dollars more a week, than the average worker in Florida.

And many teachers *do work other jobs in the summer months.

“I’ve worked in hospitality in the past,” says Hawk. “I’ve tutored over the summer privately, work summer school. Now, as a parent, it is harder to work summer jobs. But, you know, I’m lucky to have a two-income household, but a lot of single income families. There’s lots of single income teachers.”

And Renee says, teachers work a lot more than people might think. There is professional development they are forced to go to in the summer that is unpaid, and sometimes, teachers must pay out of their own pocket. Teachers often show up for the school year, two to three weeks early to set up their classroom and lesson plan. And teachers have as much homework as the kids. Sometimes, a lot more.

“Right now, sitting in my work bag, but ready for me to work on when I get home, I have essays to grade. Well after my children are asleep at night, I am sitting there grading papers and planning.

Where Florida does stack up well with the rest of the country, is starting teacher pay.

Governor DeSantis has upped starting pay dramatically. It sits at $47,178 a year – which ranks 16th nationwide, according to the NEA.

But for veteran teachers like Renee, who has 21 years in the district, only earning a few thousand dollars more than those just coming into the profession, feels like a slap in the face; and many experienced educators are walking away.

“If you keep having veteran teachers leave in droves, then you’re continually having to train new people to fill those spots. So, it’s a waste of money and having to continually train people over and over. And there’s a wealth of knowledge. That when you have someone with a lot of teaching years behind them, when they leave, they don’t leave behind their knowledge as they leave behind classroom decorations. They take it with them.”

“I’ve looked (at leaving) many times. I’ve talked with others who have left the profession for a variety of reasons and are doing things, great things, all over the country. I have family members who are in higher education, but ultimately, it’s the same thing that drew me to teaching in the first place. What keeps me there, is that I love what I do, and I can’t imagine not walking in there and seeing them every day, because the best part of the job is the children.

But good news for our area – Palm Beach and Indian River counties have some of the highest-paid teachers in the state.

Here’s where our local counties compare for average teacher salaries:

• PALM BEACH COUNTY: $58,655
• INDIAN RIVER COUNTY: $57,649
• ST. LUCIE COUNTY: $52,376
• MARTIN COUNTY: $51,751
• OKEECHOBEE: $51,655

Palm Beach pays more than any other major school district, including more than Broward ($55,697) and Miami-Dade ($55,351).