Gov. DeSantis: Florida teacher vacancies down 17.7% in 2025-2026 school year

Florida Gov. DeSantis speaks on teacher vacancies

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis held an education roundtable discussion on Wednesday morning in Tampa. He was joined by Florida Department of Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas and Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia. At the event, DeSantis announced that teacher vacancies in the state are down 17.7% in the 2025-2026 school year.

TAMPA, Fla. - Florida teacher vacancies are down 17.7% in the 2025-2026 school year, Gov. Ron DeSantis says. 

The governor said the state has now filled 30% of the vacancies from the last two years, and more than $5.9 billion has been dedicated to teacher pay increases. 

‘Schools are not a place for your agendas’

What they're saying:

DeSantis made the announcement at an education roundtable discussion on Wednesday morning in Tampa. He was joined by Florida Department of Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas and Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia at the event.

The governor credited the lack of vacancies to multiple pathways in the state for qualified individuals to enter the teaching profession. In 2024, Florida launched the Teacher Apprenticeship Program, allowing qualified individuals to receive on-the-job training from veteran teachers while they work towards their teaching certification. Florida has also helped military veterans enter the teaching profession through the Military Veterans Certification Pathway. 

DeSantis accused some school districts of previously delaying giving teachers the increase in salaries due to school unions.

"They would withhold that as a bargaining chip to be able to extract other things for their agenda that had nothing to do with increasing teacher salaries," he said. "That is not right, and we don't want it to happen this year. … The schools are not the place for your agendas."

What's next:

DeSantis says he plans to fight for even more money dedicated to teacher salaries in next year's budget. 

Florida teacher vacancies

Local perspective:

Florida, like nearly every other state in the country, had a rise in teacher vacancies following the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In August 2024, the Florida Department of Education announced that teacher vacancies for the 2024-2025 school year were 13.3% lower than first day vacancies for the 2023-2024 school year. The drop in vacancies followed the previous year’s drop of more than 8% in comparison to the previous year. 

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U.S. teacher vacancies

Big picture view:

Teacher vacancies in the U.S. began to rise noticeably around 2017, with a significant increase following the COVID-19 pandemic.

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From 2022-2023, teacher vacancies continued to rise, with some states experiencing a substantial increase in the number of unfilled positions. While some states saw a decrease in vacancies in 2023-2024, the overall shortage remained a concern.

Studies show that a significant portion of teacher vacancies are caused by teachers leaving the profession, rather than retiring. This can be attributed to a multitude of factors, including low salaries and compensation and poor working conditions.