Salary plan puts teachers first

The proposed contract calls for an average raise of 5 percent and a commitment to a goal of matching the national average of $44,000.

By KELLY RYAN GILMER, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published May 29, 2002

LARGO -- Pinellas County teachers will get an average of 5 percent raises under a proposed contract for the 2002-2003 school year announced Tuesday.

Other school district employees will get 2.3 percent raises. Most of those workers also will benefit when the school district overhauls salaries next March so workers are paid their worth in the labor market.

Superintendent Howard Hinesley, whose contract ties his raises to teachers' salary increases, also will receive 5 percent.

The contract comes at a time when most school districts around the Tampa Bay area have yet to start talks with instructors. Officials in those counties expect teachers to receive modest raises, if any.

At a cost of $18.6-million, the Pinellas school district will continue to absorb sharply escalating employee health insurance costs. In all, the district is footing 87.5 percent of insurance costs; 12.5 percent is passed on to employees.

The contract proposal also seeks a commitment from the School Board to raise Pinellas' average teacher salary of $38,158 to the national average of about $44,000. The contract calls for a meeting between the School Board and the teachers' union before July 1 to figure out how to meet that goal.

Jade Moore, the Pinellas Classroom Teachers' Association executive director, estimates the cost to be about $50-million. He thinks Pinellas could do it in three years; one approach calls for a referendum on the ballot to raise more money for education as other Florida districts have done.

Rob McMahon, the union's president, said that part of the contract -- even more than the raises and district contributions to health insurance -- will please teachers.

"To me, that was the key, to have some long-term commitment," McMahon said.

Employees will vote on the proposals next Tuesday, with the School Board expected to consider them June 18.

The starting salary for beginning teachers with no experience would be $30,700; this school year, they earned $29,400, plus an $850 bonus. The proposal also pumps money into the middle of the salary schedule, so teachers with 7 to 15 years of experience will get raises of about 5.5 percent. The most senior teachers will see 4.1 percent raises.

The average 5 percent raises are pretty good in any year, officials said, but especially this year.

Hillsborough, Pasco, Hernando and Citrus counties have not negotiated next year's employee contracts. If contracts ultimately include salary increases, school officials in those districts say, the raises would be minimal.

Polk County recently settled its 2001-2002 contract with no raises for teachers. Miami-Dade schools took away two days' pay. Volusia County is raising teacher salaries an average 6.1 percent, but that boosts new teachers to only $28,630.

Ron Stone, the district's lead labor negotiator, told his colleagues at a conference last week that Pinellas had settled the 2002-2003 contract and found money for raises. They were stunned.

"They said, 'Where did you get the money? You couldn't have gotten 5 percent from Tallahassee,' " Stone said. "I think we're going to see one of the best settlements in the state of Florida."

The raises have a price.

To find nearly $40-million to support the contracts, the district has eliminated 51 administrative positions and restructured the custodial workforce to cut 94 people. Among the administrative cuts: dropout prevention supervisor, special events coordinator and director of elementary education. But officials agreed it is far better to cut from central administration than to nip at school staffs.

Still, the cuts will hurt.

Next year, teachers won't have as much help planning new programs, using technology or learning new strategies to help students with the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. Ten percent of school discretionary budgets, used for day-to-day costs, have been cut, too. Summer school is gone.

But Moore said cutting a position such as the elementary education director -- a position normally shielded from budget woes -- shows that the district "is putting their employees first."

"Everything is going to them," Moore said. "Nothing's going to class size reduction or new programs or anything else."

Janey Ball, a teacher a Sawgrass Lake Elementary in St. Petersburg, hopes employees will support the contract proposals when they vote next week. She said she and many of her colleagues at Sawgrass Lake have more than 20 years' experience, and would thus receive 4.1 percent raises.

"I'm really pleased with what they could do," Ball said. "I feel like the administration is behind us."

Contract highlights

5 percent raises for 2002-2003 school year for teachers.

A 2.3 percent raise for non-instructional employees.

4.1 percent salary increases for most veteran teachers.

Starting salary for beginning teachers rises to $30,700.

A goal to raise average salaries to $44,000, the national average.

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