BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — In an impromptu press conference, Brevard Public Schools announced a proposed salary increase for the county’s teachers, but the Brevard Federation of Teachers says it’s still not enough.
- Brevard Public Schools holds impromptu news conference
- Superintendent Mark Mullins announces proposed teacher raises
- VP of teacher union: “money talks” or “more teachers will walk"
The teachers’ union is wondering if the email the district sent out about the news conference to school board members and BFT violated communicating with board members ahead of a legislative hearing next Monday.
“This new salary enhancement is above the average inflation for Brevard County and the highest compensation increase since the last three years. This helps our teachers keep up with the cost of living, rewards them for their high performance, and makes us more competitive with other districts,” Brevard Public School Superintendent Mark Mullins said during the press conference.
The recommendation is to propose recurring raises from 1.6 percent to 2.3 perfect, an all teacher bonus of $650, retention bonus for first-year teachers of $500, and an additional supplement for exceptional student education teachers of $835.
But Brevard Federation of Teachers Vice President says that’s not enough.
“They are absolutely unacceptable. A third party neutral magistrate decided the school board could afford the union proposal,” explained VP Vanessa Skipper.
The school board wants $2,300 for highly effective teachers and $1,725 for effective teachers, admitting financial issues.
“This year presented us with some financial difficult realities. No one can deny that the base student allocation increase this last year, it’s the lowest it’s been since the recession. We went into this year with a deficit, we did budget cuts and totaled about $14 million,” Mullins said.
With about 600 teachers leaving the district within the past three years, Skipper says “money talks” or “more teachers will walk.”
Both sides not seeing eye-to-eye on teacher salaries both agree this is a teacher crisis that needs to come to a mutual agreement.
“It’s not a hard choice to make, especially for those teachers who are annual, who have no roots here, and can afford to be free agents as teachers. They can go to other counties that pay and value them more,” Skipper said
Current Proposal from 1.6 percent to 2.3 percent
- $1,100 for teachers rated highly effective
- $825 for teachers rated effective
- $650 bonuses for all teachers, except those rated unsatisfactory
- $500 retention bonus for any first-year teacher returning for the 2019-20 school year
- $835 supplement in addition to the $165 supplement currently received for exceptional student education teacher
Union non wavering recommendation
- $2,300 for highly effective teachers
- $1727 for effective teachers
- $835 supplement in addition to the $165 supplement currently received for exceptional student education teacher
Next Monday at 9 a.m., the school board will have a legislative hearing. Teachers plan to rally at 8 a.m. outside Brevard Public Schools headquarters.