FORT MYERS, Fla. (WINK)— Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a new law that could determine whether some teachers’ unions stay in power.
The governor said Senate Bill 1296 will provide for the decertification of “partisan teacher unions.”
House Bill 1279 will provide pay incentives to high-performing teachers who choose to teach at low-performing schools, according to DeSantis on Friday.
The law does not ban unions but changes the rules to keep them certified. Now, at least half of all eligible workers must participate in the votes, or the union could be decertified.
DeSantis says that ensures unions actually represent a majority. He pointed to cases in which he says districts sought to offer extra pay to teachers in struggling schools but were blocked during union negotiations.
“The goal should be to produce the best education you can for the students and for involving the parents in that education, and that’s the philosophy we’ve had in Florida,” DeSantis said. “So the incentives just aren’t aligned. The incentives are not aligned with what’s in the students’ best interest. It’s to do what’s in the best interest of the membership that is doing that. So that’s one problem. Another problem is they become partisan actors.”
Kevin Daly, the president of the union in Lee County, said the union protects many things for teachers, like a duty-free lunch, planning time, health insurance, and the number of classes. Without those protections, it’s the students who are at risk, too.
“That may make people think twice before they decide to take a job with the school district of Lee County,” Daly said. “And so you’re going to have a situation, possibly where we’re not in competition with the best and the brightest and the best teachers—unfortunately, students probably suffer diminished scores and diminished performance because of that.”
DeSantis also signed a bill that allows school districts to offer extra pay to high-performing teachers who serve in struggling schools without having to negotiate with unions.
Watch the entire news conference above.
