ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — After a 12-hour Orange County School Board impasse hearing Wednesday, members resolved some bargaining issues between the school district and the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association.
After hearing CTA’s proposal for a 4.4% teacher raise, citing several key reasons, the school board approved:
- Teacher salary increases
- 2.25% salary increase for teachers rated highly effective (93% of teachers evaluated)
- 1.7% increase for those rated effective (6.5% of teachers evaluated)
One-year continuation of retention supplements
One-year continuation of select supplements
Allowing three days of District–paid bereavement leave
Allowing non-classroom teachers to work remotely
Adding Federal Pump Act language into contract
Changes to the instructional evaluation article
Teachers say their key demands are the reasons many instructors have left the profession while others have had to take on second jobs just to pay the bills.
During Wednesday’s hearing, CTA negotiators pointed out that Orange County teacher salaries rank 31st in the state, while the school district superintendent’s salary ranks 4th in Florida.
The six main points they focused on included:
Wages
Paperwork reduction
Breast milk pumping and storage
Parent leave
Extend years of experience supplement
Select ESE & License Supplements
CTA President Clinton McCracken says all the key points are essential in retaining and hiring new teachers in the future.
However, the board sided with the district on one key point — parental leave — saying the district does not have enough funding for 12 weeks of paid parental leave, which it estimates at $5.6 million annually.
The board strongly urged the district and CTA to go back to the bargaining table to work on a viable comprehensive parental leave program.