Tentative Agreement Reached Tuesday Between Teachers, District.
BY: STAFF REPORT | BocaNewsNow.com
BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2024 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — New teachers in Broward County will start around $50,000 as part of a new contract expected to be ratified by rank and file over the next several months. The agreement was ratified by negotiators for teachers and the Broward County School District late Tuesday afternoon, and made public in an announcement issued to BocaNewsNow.com:
A tentative agreement signed by Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) and the Broward Teachers Union – Education Professionals (BTU-EP) on Monday, February 5, 2024, would increase the base salary for existing and new teachers for the current school year (2023/24). The agreement remains to be ratified by bargaining unit members before being presented to the Broward County School Board later this month. If approved, the increases will be applied retroactively as of July 1, 2023.
The tentative agreement provides the following base salary increases for eligible employees:
Teachers on the Grandfathered salary schedule – 3.65% increase
Teachers on the Pay for Performance schedule (based on job evaluation):
4.56% increase for teachers rated Highly Effective
3.42% increase for teachers rated Effective
New teacher’s starting salary increases to $50,266.
These increases are in addition to the referendum supplements that are being disbursed through the 2026/27 school year.
“Our District is currently engaged in difficult funding conversations, but these base salary increases reflect the School Board’s and my commitment to increasing the salary of all our educators,” said BCPS Superintendent Dr. Peter B. Licata. “We’re not yet where we want to be in compensating our employees, but I am thankful to the bargaining teams for arriving at this agreement, which will put more money in the pockets of our teachers.”
“This is the beginning to moving all teachers’ salaries to $100,000, as Allen Zeman has said time and again,” said BTU President Anna Fusco. “We felt a 7% raise would have moved us closer, but the District is certain they could only offer the 3.9% pot of money, which is equivalent to about $37 million. We expect that next year’s negotiations will move us to Dr. Zeman’s goal.”
During negotiations, the bargaining groups also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding early release days and teacher planning days for the 2024/25 school year. The MOU includes 10 planning days (five of which take place at the beginning of the school year) and one early release day on February 14, 2025.
