Average teacher’s salary
Florida Ranks As One Of The Lowest States In The Nation In Teacher Pay Which Has Been Stagnant For Years – Sharply Dropping In Rank While Other States Saw Improvements. “Florida ranks as one of the lowest states in the nation in teacher pay. A recent national report showed that average teacher salaries in Florida were 47th among the 50 states and District of Columbia. Florida's average teacher salary last year was $46,708. The national average was $55,202. … Florida teacher pay, which is set at the district level, has been stagnant for several years. It has dropped in rank as teachers in most other states continue to get small raises. The drop has been fairly sharp: Florida was No. 28 in 2006-07.” [The News-Press, 10/2/11]2010: Florida's Average Teacher Salary Ranked 37th In The Nation. “A National Education Association report ranked Florida's average teacher salary at 37th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia in 2009-10 and estimated it could fall to 47th in 2010-11.” [Palm Beach Post, 3/7/11]
1998: Florida's Average Teacher Salary Ranked 29th In The Nation. In 1998, a National Education Association survey showed Florida was ranked 29th in average teacher salary at $33,889.” [Florida Times-Union, 5/16/98]
Student investment
Amid Teacher Layoffs To Deal With Scott’s Severe Education Cuts, New Data Showed Floridians Have The Lowest School Tax Burden Of Any State In The Country. “As school districts across the state plan for teacher layoffs and other changes to deal with severe education cuts, a new Census Bureau report shows Floridians have the lowest school tax burden of any state in the country. The tax money that went to schools in 2008-09, in the most recent data available, averaged less than $32 for every $1,000 of personal income statewide, says a report released Wednesday. Only the District of Columbia, which has no state school revenue, spent less, with about $18 of every $1,000 in income going to public schools. Residents of Alaska, who spent the most, contributed twice as much as Floridians relative to their income.” [Tampa Tribune, 5/28/11]
Children's Movement of Florida President: Sixty Percent Of Our Public School 10th-Graders Cannot Read At Grade Level, And Florida Ranks 50th In Funding For Education Proportionate To The Size And Wealth Of Its Population. David Lawrence Jr., president and co-chairman of the Children's Movement of Florida, president of the Early Childhood Initiative Foundation of Miami and retired publisher of the Miami Herald, opined, “Here are the facts: You and I live in a state where more than 60 percent of our public school 10th-graders cannot read at grade level. A state where one in five children will never attend his or her high school graduation. And a state that ranks 50th, last in the nation, in funding for education proportionate to the size and wealth of its population.” [Op-ed, Naples Daily News, 6/9/11]