The board hopes its actions will inspire other counties to pledge their raises to helping teachers and staff.
By REBECCA CATALANELLO
Published December 3, 2003
LAND O'LAKES - Pasco County School Board members are forgoing their raises this year, and they hope their action sends a message.
The five-member board voted 5-0 Tuesday to give their proposed $800-per-person annual increase to a fund that will assist teachers aides who are working to obtain their teaching credentials.
So far, Pasco County is the only district in the Tampa Bay area to refuse a raise.
"I don't think people understand the difficulty we're facing," board president Jean Larkin Weightman said of recent budgetary woes. "Our teachers and our employees are underpaid."
This is the second year Florida school boards have had to adopt their own salaries in public meetings, a charge given to them by the Legislature, which decided to stop setting the raises for them as it does with other officials, such as county commissioners, tax collectors and sheriffs.
Instead, the law requires the Florida School Boards Association to recommend raises based on an enrollment-driven formula.
Under the proposal, Pasco's School Board members would have seen a 2.4 percent raise from $32,906 to $33,706. That's compared with this year's average teachers' raise of 2 percent and a beginning teachers' salary of $31,000.
Superintendent John Long supported the idea, calling the move "a great symbolic gesture."
Lynne Webb, president of the United School Employees of Pasco County local teachers union, called the Legislative salary requirement "crass political maneuvering to put school boards in a very detrimental public position."
School Board members conceded that the collective $4,000 amounts to a drop in the bucket compared to its $636-million budget.
But they discussed their frustration over the way schooling is funded.
Board member Kathleen Wolf even suggested they put the $4,000 toward a lobbying effort to better help people understand the dollar issues schools face.
"I wish money could do that," board member Marge Whaley responded.
Last year, only 17 of the 67 counties in the state voted themselves raises less than what was recommended by the Florida School Boards Association.
School Board salaries in surrounding counties are $37,426 in Hillsborough, $29,208 in Hernando and $37,085 in Pinellas.
With 57,000 students, Pasco County is the fifth-fastest growing district in the state. And, as the 13th-largest school district in the state, its School Board salaries are recommended by the Florida School Boards Association to be the 13th-highest.
- Rebecca Catalanello covers education in Pasco County. She can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6241 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6241. Her e-mail address is rcatalanello@sptimes.com
