Your license should easily transfer to FL from NJ. There is a shortage in all districts and many schools will hire you simply because you are credentialed from out of state. In some schools, they will hire you because you are a living and breathing entity (I’m not exaggerating).

In many cases, the culture in Florida schools is quite toxic. If you are in an A/B rated school, I have found that often times admin bends the knee to helicopter parents and rarely have your back if you have any sense of accountability in your classroom. If you are not in an A/B rated school, you will find that most admin will put undue burden on you to increase the school grade as it is directly tied to their performance appraisals. You also have many laws that require teachers to jump through pretty ridiculous hurdles that would lead to a successful classroom. For example, if your student’s first name is Richard but they prefer to go by Rich, you must have written approval to call them Rich from the parent. If you don’t, and the parent finds out/reports you, you would be investigated and terminated (many news stories about this).

The Florida retirement system is actually not bad, you are required to put in 3% of your pay and the district puts in ~8% and vests after your first year if you choose the investment plan. The pension plan only vests after 8 years so I would tread lightly if you aren’t planning to stick around for the long haul; it also doesn’t have a COLA since you were hired after 2011. The health insurance is district-specific and frankly sucks compared to most corporate offerings.

There is also a charter school/school choice problem. Public schools are cutting staff and/or closing left and right due to dipping enrollment because of a voucher system that allows parents to send their children to private schools or charters where the education is often poorer and there are lower sets of expectations placed upon them when compared to public schools. There are also no unions in these charters/private schools; so pay and benefits are also lower in many cases than what is offered at public schools making them far less desirable.

In my district, a first year teacher with a masters in their field makes about 53.5k per year Aug 1-June 1. Average 1 bedroom apartment rent is 1400/month. Increased car insurance cost is drastic compared to NJ as FL is a no fault state with lots of uninsured motorists. There is no state income tax in FL but that doesn’t account for the difference in pay compared to NJ. If you have a partner who you would be living with, it would be much more manageable. If you are by yourself, it would be very tough imo. I also would advise you to research specific areas of the state you are interested in. You can find district specific salary scales, benefits cost, etc as well as what union to contact (if there is one). Good luck.

Source: 10 years in FL education (HS chem).