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Florida educators give senators an earful on low pay, long hours

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — What sounded like flip-flops echoing down the halls of Highlands Elementary in Osceola County was a child who had taped his shoes back together, socks sticking out, so he wouldn’t be left out of physical education class.

Highlands Elementary principal Alison Doe told Florida senators the story of the child on Wednesday, saying that a teacher's aide gave the student's family money to buy shoes.
The child's story is one of dozens that senators heard during a 3-hour Appropriations Subcommittee on Pre K-12 Education hearing.

"The homeless shelter is in our school zone, and we go to the shelter once or twice a week," said
Anicia Robinson of Leon County's Sabal Palm Elementary.
"If we have a student that hasn't been to school, we go there and ask what we can do to get them to class each day."

Florida is currently facing a teacher shortage.

The state will need approximately 1,000 new teachers next year just to meet population growth.
The 1,000 new teachers will be in addition to the open positions created by other teachers who retire, move out of the state or leave the profession.

"I lost one of my best teachers recently because she was trying to get pregnant and her doctor said, ‘I am not going to work with you unless you go to a school where you don't work this long,’" said Pamela Henderson of Polk County’s Dundee Elementary.

At $35,000, Florida's starting pay for teachers is below the national average.
The average pay of $44,000 per year is also below the national average.

In previous years, the state has implemented incentive programs for teachers in specific subject areas or those who are deemed to be “highly effective.”

Educators urged the Senate to reward teachers for doing their jobs and not to add more burdens for pay.

"To make teachers happy, (we need) some type of longevity incentive, based on just that they are there doing a great job," said Curtis Peterson of
Alachua's
Caring and Sharing Charter School.

Senators on the subcommittee are still in the process of gathering information ahead of the legislative session, which begins in March.

Among the things in
Gov. Rick Scott's budget proposal is $10 million for a one-time hiring bonus for Florida teachers who test in the top 10 percent of their subject area examination, as well as $16 million for districts to implement targeted recruitment and retention initiatives that meet the districts' needs.

There is no recommendation for an across-the-board pay increase.