Teacher Shortages

Florida teachers are leaving the state and their profession. They blame unrealistic workloads, restrictive laws and stagnant pay.

As school districts in the area work to fill bus driver vacancies, some are experiencing a greater shortage than usual. Manatee County needs to fill about 20% of its bus driving staff. Like surrounding districts, Manatee officials hope a wage increase will attract more employees.

This year, much more than in years past, the people charged with taking care of students are under a microscope — and it’s taking a personal, and professional toll on public education.

There are thousands of teaching positions in Florida that still haven’t been filled despite the fact that most kids in the state went back to school this week.

On this week's Florida Roundup, we talk about the latest in education news, the approval of PragerU educational materials in K-12 schools and Florida's recently expanded vouchers program.

The program has already graduated 22 teachers in more than two years.

DeSantis Tuesday teased legislation aimed at recruiting to teaching jobs retired law-enforcement officers, emergency-medical technicians, paramedics and firefighters who have bachelor’s degrees.

Florida students began returning to classrooms this week amid a teacher and support-staff shortage, with some counties still advertising positions and exploring "creative options" to fill vacancies.

Along with the difficulties of staff shortages, teachers and school districts are also facing scrutiny around what students are taught in the classroom.

Several Florida school boards are being sued for changing their LGBTQ guidelines and removing similar material from their libraries and classrooms in response.

The Hillsborough School District's hiring fair this week and other efforts aim to fill close to 800 instructional jobs and more than 150 bus driving positions.

Throughout the month of May, WUSF will feature the voices of local teachers, as they describe the challenges they face, in their own words.