Florida’s public schools posted help-wanted signs for nearly 5,300 teachers this month, more than double the vacancies they needed to fill two years ago and another alarming sign of an ongoing teacher shortage, the state’s teachers union said.
The Florida Education Association, which counts teacher vacancies posted on Florida school district websites, said the January 2023 vacancies — a total of 5,294 — represented a steep rise from five years ago when 1,492 openings were counted.
The number of teacher openings counted combined with another 4,600 openings for teachers aides and other school employees pose a serious problem for Florida’s schools, the union said. By its estimates, more than 100,000 students are now missing out on a full-time teacher, as classes are filled by substitutes, covered by other instructional staff or shared by remaining teachers.
“This is the most pressing issue facing the education of Florida’s students. It is time to #FixTheTeacherShortage” tweeted Andrew Spar, the association’s president, on Thursday.
But the Florida Department of Education disputed the idea that the state faced a serious problem.
“The notion of a large teacher shortage in Florida is a myth generated by media activists and teachers unions,” wrote William Patrick, a department spokesperson, in an email.
Patrick said the 4,442 vacancies reported by school districts on Sept. 1 amounted to about 2.4% of the state’s public school teachers, and an average of about 1.2 open positions per school.
That was less than half the vacancy rate reported nationwide by the U.S. Department of Education, which said in August that the average public school needed to hire three teachers, he noted.
But the union said the vacancies counted at the start of 2023 are more than double the number counted in January 2021 when there were 2,368. It noted it also found a record-breaking 6,000 vacancies in its annual count ahead of the new school year starting in August.
The teacher jobs that need filling are found across the state and region. Orange County Public Schools has about 300 openings, said Bridget Williams, the district’s chief of staff. OCPS has about 14,000 teachers and is now looking for teachers for kindergarten, middle school music and high school math classes, among others.
School administrators, union leaders and teachers say the problem is twofold: Mid-career teachers are leaving before they hit retirement age and fewer college students are pursuing careers in education. From fall 2017 to fall 2021, the number of students at Florida universities majoring in education dropped by more than 2,100, according to the Florida Board of Governors, which oversees the 12 schools.
Williams said when she was a school principal years ago an open teacher job would draw 10 or more applicants. Now many openings attract just a single candidate — or none. Job fairs at colleges that used to attract 200 would-be teachers now attract about a dozen, with 40 or so Florida school districts vying to hire them, Williams said.
“It’s tough because you don’t have as many folks who want to go into education,” she said. “The interest is not what it used to be.”
Like other districts, OCPS has started a “grow your own” program, working with Rollins College to help teachers aides earn a bachelor’s degree and become certified teachers. It is looking at other innovative ways to find teachers, too.
Union leaders and teachers say low pay, a lack of job security — done away with in Florida’s 2011 teacher merit-pay law — and poor morale brought on most recently by new state laws restricting what can be taught and what books can be used all contribute to teachers leaving mid-career.
Though Florida has boosted starting teacher pay, it has done little to provide raises for veteran teachers, adding to the frustration. Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed the Florida Legislature to provide money to get starting teacher pay to $47,500, but there have been far fewer funds available to hike salaries for those already in classrooms.
As a result, Florida’s starting teacher pay now ranks in 16th in the nation, but its average pay ranks 49th, according to the National Education Association.
In Seminole County, a teacher hired four years ago has benefited from the state’s starting-pay initiative, getting a $12,000 raise over those years, said Dan Smith, president of the Seminole Education Association, the county’s teacher union.
But a 25-year veteran has gotten only an $1,800 raise in those same four years, Smith said.
Seminole County Public Schools, by the union’s count, had about 180 resignations the first semester of this school year, a loss of about 4% of its teaching force, he said.
“In order to retain our teachers, we have to start paying them more,” he added.
lpostal@orlandosentinel.com