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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Wednesday marks the second day of Florida\u2019s 2026 regular legislative session<\/a>, and lawmakers are turning their focus to Florida\u2019s growing teacher shortage.<\/p>\n What we know:<\/p>\n Today, the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee is scheduled to hear Senate Bill 320<\/a>, a wide-ranging education package that includes new tools for teacher retention and compensation reform.<\/p>\n Among the key proposals in SB 320<\/a>:<\/p>\n Districts could offer multiyear contracts\u00a0(up to 3 years) to teachers who\u2019ve completed a probationary and annual contract, and who\u2019ve earned three consecutive years of satisfactory evaluations.Teachers on a multiyear contract who receive a “needs improvement” or “unsatisfactory” evaluation would return to a one-year contract.School boards could pay more for teachers with advanced degrees. However, this applies only if the degree is in a relevant subject area.The bill also limits collective bargaining on performance pay, teacher placement, and bonus structures, giving districts more freedom to act without union negotiations. <\/p>\n It also expands eligibility for Florida\u2019s Teacher Apprenticeship Program\u00a0and makes certification more flexible, especially for paraprofessionals and career changers.<\/p>\n READ: Children\u2019s Gasparilla 2026 Guide: Here\u2019s what to know<\/a><\/p>\n What The Union Is Saying:<\/p>\n While teacher unions have frequently criticized Republican-backed policies in recent years, the Florida Education Association<\/a> is backing this bill.<\/p>\n On its website, the FEA calls SB 320: “Good for students, educators and school communities.”<\/p>\n The union says the bill addresses multiple FEA priorities by removing barriers that prevent teachers from fair raises, reestablishes multiyear contracts and provides more flexibility in funding to support schools and staff.<\/p>\n By the numbers:<\/p>\n Florida<\/a> continues to struggle with teacher retention. According to Florida Education Association data, the state started the new semester with thousands of open positions.<\/p>\n Teacher vacancies by county as of January 8 <\/p>\n Vacancies in Polk County<\/a>\u00a0jumped by more than 100 positions since August, making it the largest increase in the state. Hillsborough<\/a> also saw a rise, up from 313 to 340 in the same timeframe.<\/p>\n What’s next:<\/p>\n The Senate Fiscal Policy Committee is scheduled to take up SB 320<\/a> Wednesday morning. If the bill passes, it moves closer to a full Senate vote.<\/p>\n With broad policy changes, union support, and growing pressure to act on Florida\u2019s teacher shortage, this may be one of the most consequential education bills of the 2026 session.<\/p>\n The Source: This article was written using information from Senate Bill 320, the County-by-county vacancy report from the Florida Education Association and statements posted by the FEA.<\/p>\n Florida<\/a>Florida Legislature<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Wednesday marks the second day of Florida\u2019s 2026 regular legislative session, and lawmakers are turning…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":117774,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[25632,47,28,30,100,29,115,628],"class_list":{"0":"post-117773","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-2020-election","9":"tag-fl","10":"tag-florida","11":"tag-florida-headlines","12":"tag-florida-legislature","13":"tag-florida-news","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-us"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117773\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/vlcsnap-2026-01-14-07h36m17s406.png\")
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