There were 5,294 teacher vacancies in Florida in January this year, according to the Florida Education Association's (FEA) count of vacancies posted on district websites. The number of support staff vacancies was 4,631.

There were 6,920 advertised vacancies for teachers as of August 7, according to the FEA's latest count. Students in most Florida school districts went back to school on August 10. There were also another 5,072 advertised vacancies for support staff.

The FEA blames the high number of vacancies on the education policies of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

He's signed legislation on a number of education issues, including what he called the Stop WOKE Act last year that limits how race can be taught in classrooms. Earlier this year, he signed an expansion of what critics call the "Don't Say Gay" law, barring classroom instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in all grades.

When federal immigration authorities arrived at his Sand Key restaurant in Clearwater to find outdated and noncompliant work documents for 19 of his employees, he was forced to fire them all — including seven people who had worked with his family for decades.

“With 2,000 employees, it becomes very difficult to monitor it,’’ Gonzmart said in an interview. “We think they’re legal but, when we had to check, we found seven people who have been with me 30 years — paying taxes, had children, grandchildren — and we were required to terminate them.”

“I’m very proud of Gov. DeSantis and everything he’s done. I really am,’’ said Gonzmart, a lifelong Republican. “It gave everybody confidence and that’s why so many people are moving here… But my concern is the governor putting in a law that says those who have an expired driver’s license cannot renew it because they’re no longer legal. They cannot work. Their papers are no longer legal.”

While much of the focus on Florida’s new immigration law has been on its impact on agriculture and construction companies, the state’s pivotal restaurant and lodging industry has drawn less attention, but the repercussions have been profound.

New College of Florida professor who was denied tenure by the Board of Trustees has filed a lawsuit—along with the United Faculty of Florida—against the board and the Florida Board of Governors, which oversees higher education in the state. The lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of a recent state law that limits arbitration, News Service of Florida reported.

Plaintiff Hugo Viera-Vargas was one of five faculty members denied tenure by NCF’s Board of Trustees in April, despite receiving approval at every other point in the process. Trustees cited “extraordinary circumstances” in the tenure denial as the college undergoes major changes driven by a new board majority appointed by Republican governor Ron DeSantis, who has directed members to push NCF in a conservative direction. The board has complied by ousting former president Patricia Okker and installing DeSantis ally Richard Corcoran as interim president.

Viera-Vargas, a professor of Caribbean/Latin American Studies and Music, appealed the tenure denial, but his appeal was reportedly shot down; Corcoran cited a state law passed earlier this year—SB 266—that limits arbitration of faculty grievances.

The lawsuit argues that “the arbitration ban curtails Viera-Vargas’s academic freedom and forces him to engage in self-censorship,” and that he was denied tenure, in part, because Corcoran disagrees with “certain subjects” that he teaches. A faculty webpage notes race is part of his research area.

In the months before the Florida Board of Governors met in late March, more than 1,000 people wrote in, mostly to complain. Now, a dozen speakers lined up to be heard in person.

They had come to weigh in on a proposed state rule that would make it harder for university faculty to keep tenure. The board, which oversees the state’s 12 public universities, was nearing a decision. But many in the audience had other concerns.

Gov. Ron DeSantis had been talking since January about his plans to rid higher education of “woke” influences. He spoke of weeding out liberal professors, killing diversity programs and restricting course content. He railed against “zombie studies,” the college majors he saw as frivolous.

“If you pass this regulation, Florida’s university system will go from the most competitive in the country to the least — and it will happen overnight,” said Andrew Gothard, head of the state’s faculty union.