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Hillsborough teachers get pay boost

An agreement between the teachers union and the district gives teachers their largest raise in five years.

By MELANIE AVE
Published June 14, 2005

TAMPA - Hillsborough County school teachers will receive their largest pay raise in five years -- an average of 5 percent when the school year begins in August.

Teachers will receive between $1,300 and $2,940 in extra annual pay, according to an agreement reached between the school district and union leaders. Most of the district's nearly 14,000 teachers also will work an additional five minutes daily, going to seven hours and 40 minutes.

The executive board of the Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association has signed off on the agreement. It still must be ratified by union members and the School Board.

Association president Jean Clements said the larger-than-usual raises were possible because of additional funding from the Legislature. The school district received about 11 percent more this year, money that also must cover the cost of educating 6,500 new students.

School administrators have struggled in recent years to offer significant teacher raises. Last year, teachers received an average increase of 2.75 percent. The year before, it was 2.1 percent.

Hillsborough teachers have had only two raises of 5 percent or more in the last two decades, in 1998 and again in 2000.

The agreement also boosted beginning teacher pay from $31,000 to $32,005. That still trails the $34,300 offered in Pinellas County, where voters approved a property tax in November aimed at boosting teacher salaries.

In Hillsborough, teachers at the top of the pay scale with bachelor's degrees can earn $53,542 next year.

Deputy superintendent Dan Valdez called the agreement a "great settlement."

"We try to do as much as we can and put as much money in the hands of our teachers as possible," he said.

In a move to make teachers more accountable, the agreement also calls for future raises to be withheld from educators who are deemed in need of improvement on their annual evaluations. If their performance does not improve in the year after receiving the designation, they would not be eligible for pay raises.

The idea is to help teachers who are not making the mark, Clements said.

"We want to have excellent teachers across the board," she said.

The two sides also agreed to boost the extra money teachers can receive in certain programs. Current teachers who help new or struggling teachers, called "peer assistants," can earn $400 for each teacher they mentor. That's up from $300.

The district also tweaked the incentive program that encourages educators to teach in high-poverty schools. Teachers with less than five years of experience can earn 5 percent more for teaching in a struggling school. Now educators with six or more years can make 10 percent more.

Along those same lines, teachers who receive national certification and teach in impoverished schools can earn a $4,500 annual boost.

The school district still must negotiate with the Hillsborough School Employees Federation, which represents bus drivers, custodians and cafeteria workers. An agreement was never reached between the two entities last year. An impasse hearing has been set for next week.

-- Melanie Ave can be reached at 813 226-3400 or melanie@sptimes.com

[Last modified June 14, 2005, 18:46:56]