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Teacher union, board can't agree on pay
By MARY SPICUZZA, Times Staff Writer BROOKSVILLE -- School Board negotiators proposed boosting pay for the district's newest teachers during a salary negotiations meeting on Monday. And the negotiators offered a raise to teachers at the top of the pay scale. But representatives of the Hernando Classroom Teachers Association said most veteran teachers would benefit least from the district's salary proposal. The two sides were unable to reach an agreement during Monday's meeting. As a result, the district's 1,100 teachers will return to work on Aug. 5 without knowing what their raises will be this school year. Both the School Board and union seemed to agree the district must offer more competitive pay and that it should address health insurance costs. But they couldn't settle on who should get raises and how much. Edd Poore, the district's lead negotiator, offered a proposal Monday that included the board's spending an additional $151,000 on health insurance, about $14 a month per teacher with school health insurance. The proposal included boosting base salaries for teachers during their first six years working for the county, as well as raises for the county's most veteran teachers. All teachers are already guaranteed an experience-based step increase of about 2.25 percent, based on last year's negotiations. The average raise for teachers would be about 2.8 percent, according to the district's proposal. The union did not offer a counterproposal, but members were concerned with the School Board's proposal. "We have been here, we have stuck through. (Poore is) saying the district needs to be competitive, but what about the teachers who have been here for years?" said Cynthia Moore, the union's president and 39-year veteran teacher. "The teachers at the top always seem to get not much at all." The district's proposal would raise the salaries of new teachers by $1,000, making the base salary for teachers with bachelor's degrees $26,600. "We're getting killed, and we've got to do something to recruit teachers," Poore said after the meeting. But 188 of Hernando's teachers, about 17 percent of the work force, were at the top of the pay scale last year. In the county, teachers with 23 years of experience reach the top of the scale. Other issues discussed at the meeting included whether in-school suspension classes are being assigned as punishment and giving all teachers access to school e-mail for union business. The proposal for a districtwide arts and letters event was also discussed, but nothing was decided. Both sides agreed to meet Wednesday, Aug. 7, for further negotiations. -- Mary Spicuzza can be reached via e-mail at spicuzza@sptimes.com.
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