Ron DeSantis hit teacher unions with one brutal move that left them scrambling for cover

Florida’s teacher unions thought they could play games with educator paychecks without anyone calling them out.

They were dead wrong.

And Governor Ron DeSantis hit teacher unions with one brutal move that left them scrambling for cover.

DeSantis drops the hammer on union delay tactics

Governor Ron DeSantis and Florida Education Commissioner Anastasios “Stasi” Kamoutsas delivered a crystal-clear message to teacher unions across the Sunshine State during a Tampa roundtable on July 30.

Stop holding up teacher pay raises, or face public humiliation.

The warning came after months of union-led contract negotiations that have delayed state-funded salary increases for educators in at least 16 districts – a pattern that’s become all too familiar under union leadership.

“We will continue to beat the drum and will bring these districts to our State Board of Education meeting, and they will explain to the world what the holdup is. Time after time after time again, every superintendent has explained it is the teacher’s union,” Kamoutsas declared.¹

The commissioner didn’t mince words, setting a December deadline for districts to get raises into teachers’ hands or face a public grilling at the State Board of Education meeting.

Kamoutsas sent a direct memo to teachers statewide, urging them to “put pressure on those unions who are holding up your money.”²

The numbers don’t lie about Florida’s teacher investment

Here’s what makes the union stalling tactics even more outrageous – DeSantis has consistently delivered for Florida’s educators.

The Governor has approved teacher pay raises in each of the past five state budgets, including $1.3 billion in this year’s budget alone.

https://twitter.com/RonDeSantis/status/1950584479140974914

Since 2020, DeSantis has invested over $5 billion toward raising teacher pay, with this year’s allocation representing $101 million more than the previous fiscal year.

That translates to roughly $20 more per paycheck for each teacher – not earth-shattering money, but every dollar counts when unions aren’t playing games with the distribution.

The state has also tackled the teacher shortage head-on, reducing classroom vacancies by 18% over three years to less than 1% of faculty positions.

Then there’s the bigger picture. Nearly three-quarters of Florida schools now pull A or B ratings. School choice? The state leads the nation with 1.4 million families who’ve voted with their feet.

Union bosses scramble with same old playbook

The Florida Education Association saw this coming and wheeled out their standard damage control routine.

Instead of taking responsibility for delaying teacher raises, FEA President Andrew Spar played the victim card and blamed DeSantis for “anti-union efforts.”

“It’s the same story,” Spar whined. “Blame the local teachers unions for interfering or holding back money.”³

The union’s official response was even more tone-deaf, calling DeSantis’ education roundtable part of a “Blame Educators Tour” and claiming educators aren’t responsible for delayed raises.

But here’s the problem with their excuse – the evidence doesn’t support their spin.

Lee Bryant, president of the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association, claimed his district and union “have no intention of keeping money from teachers” while simultaneously admitting negotiations are still ongoing.⁴

Rob Krete from the Hillsborough County Teachers Association tried a different angle, blaming the state budget timeline and claiming Florida’s Department of Education hasn’t fully paid districts for last year.

Anyone who’s watched Florida politics knows this playbook by heart.

Here’s what unions actually do with teacher money

Remember 2023? Same script. State Board members had to drag district officials into public hearings because unions were slow-walking state-funded raises again.

Back then, the evidence was clear – unions treated teacher salary money like poker chips in their broader contract fights.

DeSantis explained the pattern during Wednesday’s roundtable: “You had six, seven, eight months went by, where some of these unions were holding up the pay increases for these teachers.”⁵

The Governor made it clear this manipulation stops now.

“I don’t think you’re going to see any foot let off the gas at all with Stasi in there. So, buckle up if you don’t want to do what’s right for the teachers… we’re going to use all the tools at our disposal to make that money gets where it belongs,” DeSantis warned.⁶

Commissioner Kamoutsas put it even more bluntly in his memo to districts: “I will not tolerate union delay tactics when it comes to the rights and compensation of Florida’s teachers.”⁷

The real reason unions stall teacher paychecks

Here’s how the game works – unions hold up salary money to squeeze districts on completely unrelated contract demands.

Teacher gets promised a raise in July. Union drags talks through Christmas arguing about bathroom policies or whatever their latest cause happens to be.

Meanwhile, that teacher’s still making the old salary while union bosses play hardball over their political wish list.

The unions know that once teachers receive their state-funded raises, they lose a key bargaining chip in pushing their demands on school districts.

So they intentionally slow-walk the process, using teacher financial needs as a weapon in their negotiations.

That’s exactly why DeSantis and Kamoutsas are taking this public approach – because behind-the-scenes pressure hasn’t been enough to stop the games.

By threatening to drag district superintendents before the State Board of Education for public questioning, they’re raising the stakes for everyone involved.

Now union leaders and district officials know that their delay tactics will be exposed for all Floridians to see.

The December deadline gives everyone involved plenty of time to wrap up negotiations and get teachers their money.

But if unions continue playing politics with teacher paychecks, they’ll have to explain their obstruction in front of cameras and a statewide audience.

After years of watching unions prioritize politics over teacher pay, DeSantis just served notice that those days are over.

¹ James Call, “DeSantis, Florida education official warn unions: Act fast on teacher pay raises,” USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida, July 31, 2025.

² Ibid.

³ Jeffrey S. Solochek, “DeSantis team warns teacher unions against ‘delay tactics’ in pay talks,” Tampa Bay Times, July 31, 2025.

⁴ Ibid.

⁵ Chris Young, “Desantis blasts teacher unions at Tampa roundtable,” WMNF News, July 30, 2025.

⁶ Call, “DeSantis, Florida education official warn unions.”

⁷ Solochek, “DeSantis team warns teacher unions.”