At the beginning of the school year, NBC6 and our sister station Telemundo51 sent an informal survey to teachers across Miami-Dade and Broward through their unions to get their thoughts on a variety of topics including changes in legislation, staff shortages, safety and the economy.
We heard from more than 1,500 teachers -- from those who’ve been teaching for over 20 years to those who are on their first year of teaching. More than half of the participants are from Broward.
It's the third year NBC6 and Telemundo51 conduct a similar survey. These are the results:
Biggest Concerns
We asked teachers what are their biggest concerns this school year. These are some of the comments they shared:
"Not having the freedom to teach and support my students without fear."
"My biggest concern, as always, is financial. Will there be enough opportunities to get supplemental pay to earn more money, even though I will carry a bigger workload, to support a family of five."
"Keeping up with the cost of living."
"Fear of losing my job because I might say the wrong thing or have/use the wrong book or text in class and being reported by a SINGLE parent or child."
"Not feeling Safe."
Staff Shortages
We asked teachers if their schools have experienced staff shortages this year and whether the school district is doing enough to deal with the shortage.
School Safety
We asked if they believe the school district and state leaders are doing enough to keep students and teachers safe. Most teachers responded they feel safe on campus. That's a higher percentage from previous surveys we have conducted.
State Laws
Florida has restricted instruction of gender identity, sexuality, and race. We asked teachers how they feel about changes in the school curriculum.
When asked who they believe should be primarly responsible for what's being taught in schools, more than half (56%) said teachers. The rest selected school boards (26.5%), state lawmakers (6%), federal government (6.8%), and parents (4%).
African American History Standards
We also asked teachers their thoughts about the updated African American History Standards. The Florida Department of Education, Governor Ron DeSantis and those who worked on the standards have repeatedly defended the changes, telling NBC6 in the past, “the curriculum was authored by a group of scholars and educators” and calling the standards “rigorous and comprehensive.”
This is what some of the survey participants have to say about the standards:
"There was not need to make changes."
"Enough already. It's already in the curriculum."
"It is a travesty to try and change history. There was and will never be a benifit from slavery and we do our students an injustice teaching the new African American history standards..."
"It feels like a threat to education."
Economy
The State of the Profession
Reaction to the Survey
We shared the results with Miami-Dade and Broward County Public Schools as well as the Florida Department of Education.
In a statement, a MDCPS spokesperson told us: "Miami-Dade County Public Schools is always open to receiving any feedback or input from our valued teachers. The District supports our teachers with the necessary training and resources to make sure that our students succeed. It is thanks to these steps that Miami-Dade County Public School is the best choice for education in the county."
In a statement, a BCPS spokesperson told us: "We value the feedback and input of BCPS employees and encourage them to reach out to their school leaders if they have a concern."
By the time of publication, we had not received a response from the Florida Department of Education.
