PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis highlighted a series of educational victories during a stop in Palm Beach County on Wednesday afternoon.
"The number one indicator for student success is having a high quality teacher," the governor said at Lake Park Elementary School. "We want to make sure that we're rewarding teachers for a job well done."
Gov. DeSantis said the state Legislature just approved $300 million in teacher bonuses through Florida's Best & Brightest program. It also removed the SAT/ACT requirements for teachers to be eligible for a bonus.
"We're trying to focus more on evaluating teachers for what they're doing in the classroom, not on a test they took years ago," the governor said.
Gov. DeSantis added the Legislature approved more than $10 million for teachers to be trained in computer science.
"We're trying to stay ahead of the curve on what jobs are out there," the governor said. "This is just the beginning. We're going to do more with teacher compensation as we get into the next session."
Education has been a major issue for Gov. DeSantis since he took office in January.
Earlier this year, he announced a plan to eliminate Florida's controversial Common Core program, which will remain in place until at least Jan. 1, 2020.
In February, he laid out a plan to offer more scholarship opportunities to students with special needs.
Then just last month, he outlined his goal to clear the wait list for Florida's Tax Credit Scholarship program.The program is designed to give low income students better educational opportunities that they normally wouldn't get because of limited financial resources.
