FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – After a unanimous school board vote Friday morning, Broward County Public Schools teachers and classroom assistants will receive what school leaders call a necessary raise to their salaries or hourly pay.
Educators will also get a one-time stipend, and employees who didn’t qualify for the $1,000 disaster relief bonus from the state will also receive that bonus from the district. (See more details on the terms at the bottom of this page.)
“They have been adaptable as they have worked hard to educate our students through COVID-19, through virtual learning, and back to face-to-face learning,” said Laurie Rich Levinson, the Broward school board chair.
The agreement had been struck with the Broward Teachers Union in December and ratified by its members after winter break.
Union leaders say the raises, while small, are vital and deserved.
“It’s not a significantly large amount of an increase, but it is an increase that the Broward County employees can see that almost no other school district has been to come to or accomplish,” said Anna Fusco, president of the Broward Teachers Union.
Education leaders call it a step in the right direction to show the value of school employees despite tight restrictions coming down from the state.
Interim Broward Superintendent Vickie Cartwright said the school board brought concerns to Tallahassee, such as highlighting the cost of living in Broward being much higher than many other districts in the state, saying that should factor into funding.
“I would like to thank all of our employees for their support and their patience,” Cartwright said. “The board directed us to go in, really scrutinize the budget, and try to find as much money as we possibly could that was allowed.”
The terms of the agreement include:
- $2,000 one-time stipend for all educational professional unit members
- Salary increases of 1.33% for “highly effective” teachers on the pay for performance salary schedule, 1.07% salary increase for teachers on the grandfathered salary schedule, and 1% for “effective” teachers on the pay for performance salary schedule
- $1,000 bonus for instructional personnel who did not qualify for the $1,000 disaster relief bonus provided by the state
- $500 supplement for multilingual itinerant support staff whose workload has substantially increased above their normal caseload due to providing services to students and families who would normally be serviced by a monolingual staff member
- $1,500 one-time stipend for all educational support professionals
- Increase of salary schedule for classroom assistants, including raising minimum hourly rate from $11.51 to $13
- Increase of salary schedule for teacher assistants, including raising minimum hourly rate from $13.27 to $15