TAMPA, Fla. — Florida’s education workforce is growing, but not where you might expect. 

New information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows private schools are adding jobs, while public schools are losing them. 

With more than 1,200 students, Carrollwood Day School is one of the largest independent private schools in Tampa Bay, and it’s growing.

“We have been on a growth trajectory since we opened, but it has accelerated over the past five years,” said Sara Rubinstein.

Rubinstein is the head of the school. She said that in order to keep up with the growth, CDS has expanded its hiring season, starting in December, and added positions.

“We’ve added over the past five years about 30 instructional positions, whether it’s for teachers, or support, learning specialists and counselors, and beyond that, the operational staff to keep up with the growth and student population,” she said.

State labor data shows a shift in education employment across the state, with private schools adding about 1,400 jobs over the past year, while local government educational services, which includes public schools, lost nearly 5,800 jobs. 

“The state of Florida is spending $4.5 billion subsidizing private, for-profit schools in the state of Florida, so you’re going to get more, and if you want less of something, under-fund it,” said Lee Bryant.

Bryant is the president of the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association. He blames the state’s expanded scholarship programs. He said that Pinellas is handling most staff reductions through attrition or reassignment as enrollment continues to decline. 

“This is a common problem throughout the state of Florida. Pinellas County is really being damaged with our demography. We’re getting older, we’re having fewer children, so it’s hurting, but it’s hurting in a lot of places,” said Bryant.

Carrollwood Day School does not accept state scholarships or vouchers. Rubinstein said she’s not surprised, though, that private schools across the state are expanding.

“Florida has really become the leader in the nation in terms of creating a marketplace for choice, and I think there’s been dramatic growth in educational options for families over the past five years, and many of them are private or like us, independent, and so, I guess it did not surprise me that there had been that much growth in the private and independent school sector for teacher hiring,” she said.