Broward teachers can expect a salary boost of $2,300 to $8,000 for at least the next four years.
The extra pay, funded through a $93 million referendum approved by voters in August, has been tentatively agreed upon, the school district and the Broward Teachers Union announced in a news conference Tuesday. Union members must still vote to approve it, which Union President Anna Fusco said she expects will happen.
The supplements are guaranteed through 2022. They would go away after that unless the school district asks voters to renew the referendum and voters approve, Superintendent Robert Runcie said.
The union and district have been in contentious negotiations for most of the school year on salary increases and health benefits. Frustration reached a boiling point two weeks ago as hundreds of teachers packed a school board meeting to protest what they saw as an inadequate offer by the school district. Runcie and School Board members said they heard them and would work for a resolution.
District officials have maintained they had little money for raises this year due to poor state funding but could make it up to teachers in July once they start receiving the referendum dollars.
“Yes, it took us a while to get here, but being able to work for a longer period of time means we were more thoughtful and came up with a much better solution than we could have had earlier in the year,” Runcie said.
Fusco said she was pleased with the deal and that her group’s “relentlessness and perseverance” paid off.
“Thank you to the public out there that voted in August and saw the value in our educators who work in Broward County Public Schools,” Fusco said. “You saw that unfortunately our state doesn’t realize they need to add more to the budget and salaries were being harmed.”
In addition to the referendum bonuses, the district and union also agreed:
— Most teachers would receive a 2.16 percent salary increase, retroactive to Jan. 1 for the 2018-19 school year
— Teachers who are in a pay-for-performance plan — mostly those hired since 2011 — would receive a 2.17 percent increase if they are rated highly effective and 1.6 percent if they are rated effective.
— The district will continue to pay 100 percent of health insurance premiums. An earlier offer would have required teachers to pay $160 a month for the best coverage.
— The district will revamp its evaluation system in a way that should allow more teachers to ranked as highly effective, thus qualifying them for more bonuses and higher pay increases.
— The district will begin negotiating for possible 2019-20 salary increases immediately after the legislative session ends next month.
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