All those who choose the profession of teaching know that the pay is not great going in. But what they do get are--a job with summers off, lots of holidays, a pension for life, paid medical and when raises are given, a raise that is not based on any type of performance standards. And unlike private industry, they rarely get fired unless it is for something really egregious.
Governor Rick Scott had a victory yesterday when the majority of Florida Supreme Court justices ruled that teachers must contribute 3% of their pay to their retirement fund--just like those working in the "real" world have to pay. This ruling was not based on fairness but as it turns out it is fairness. What is fair about every citizen picking up the total tab for a teacher's retirement when they don't get that option themselves at their place of employment?
There are 169,719 teachers in the State teaching 2.6 million students. Florida ranks near the middle of the country as far as salary. 33.5% o Florida's Education Budget is spent on salaries.
Florida's retirement system has now shifted from a noncontributory to a contributory pension plan for the 623,000 workers in the system, including teachers, firefighters, police and other state and local government employees. The annual savings to the state is estimated at $861 million a year. This is a great decision for the health and growth of Florida .
Average teacher pay in Palm Beach County.
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