Florida Education Association

A federal judge backed two public school unions in a legal battle over dues deductions. Educators say they will stay alert for challenges to other parts of the union law.

A federal judge sided mostly with the state on a law that public-sector union leaders say makes it harder to continue representing their workers.

Governor Ron DeSantis approved the allocation Wednesday.

The state also needs almost 3,500 support staff members.

Florida started the year with 7,000 teacher vacancies, according to the Florida Education Association.

Republicans had tried for years to pass what critics call a union-busting bill. The proposal builds on past efforts aimed at curbing public employee unions.

A proposal to raise the membership threshold to 60% and prevent automatic withdrawals for union dues is moving in the legislature over accusations that it targets some of Republicans’ most vocal critics.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has signaled that he will make a priority of passing a long-debated proposal that would prevent teachers from having union dues deducted from their paychecks.

Just 53 percent of Florida's third graders passed the state’s reading test. That's down one percentage point from last year, according to the state Department of Education.

How Florida assesses K-12 students' academic progress may be changing. Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to eliminate most of the state's standardized tests, called Florida Standards Assessments (FSA). Instead, the state would rely on progress monitoring.