PENSACOLA, Fla. — Thousands of teachers are needed to fill classroom vacancies across the state. To fill that need, Governor Ron DeSantis is recruiting military veterans.
Through the Military Veterans Certification Pathway program, veterans will now be able to receive a five-year temporary education certificate while they finish their bachelor’s degree if they meet the following requirements:
- Minimum of 48 months of military service with an honorable/medical discharge,
- Minimum of 60 college credits with a 2.5-grade point average,
- Passing score on a Florida subject area examination,
- Employment in a Florida school district, including charter schools
- A cleared background screening
During Wednesday's Department of Education school board meeting, members voted unanimously to implement the new program. Approved veterans would be assigned a mentor teacher for a minimum of two years to support them.
Commissioner Manny Diaz, Jr. said the state has already received applications from 215 veterans for teaching positions. Those are in addition to the 11,000 applications the certification department has recently processed in the last month. Under state statute, the certification department has 90 days to process applications. Diaz said state employees worked quickly to process applications to help address the teacher shortage across the state.
Ahead of the board's vote, Governor DeSantis held a press conference in Pensacola on his initiative to get veterans in front of public and charter school students.
"We want to harness those experiences," DeSantis said. "I can tell you, you can sit in a university lecture hall, but that does not supplant what you've learned in life experiences being in those military units learning how to lead people. Those folks are bringing a wealth of experience and knowledge."
10 Tampa Bay asked our local school districts their thoughts on changing teaching requirements for veterans. Here are the responses we received.
Hillsborough County Public Schools
“The Governor's initiatives are a great start in helping school districts across the state to fill their instructional classroom vacancies. We need proactive solutions and with this proposal, it is clear we will be expanding the field of potential candidates while also creating teacher apprenticeships, mentorships, and providing scholarships to allow current teachers to earn a master's degree with financial assistance.
"As a school district, we have worked diligently to expand acceleration opportunities for our students, saving millions of dollars for families. Now the governor's proposal will provide scholarships to educators putting them on a fast track to their master's degree which will allow us to open more seats, further expanding acceleration opportunities for students.”
-Superintendent Addison Davis, Hillsborough County Public Schools
Pinellas County Public Schools
"High-quality, high-performing teachers are key to student achievement. We welcome the opportunity to place qualified people in our classrooms and encourage individuals who meet the criteria to apply. Pinellas County Schools continues its military recruitment using programs such as Heroes to Education and Troops to Teachers as an additional pathway for teacher recruitment."
-A spokesperson for the school district tells 10 Tampa Bay
Sarasota County Schools
"We are unable to speculate about the potential impact of this proposed program from the state – it’s too soon to tell...
"We usually see the most teaching vacancies among our ESE (Exceptional Student Education) positions at a variety of age levels, and highly specialized subject areas like math and science courses..."
-A spokesperson for the school district tells 10 Tampa Bay
Polk County Public schools declined to comment, citing how new the program is. 10 Tampa Bay also reached out to Citrus, Hernando, and Manatee County schools.