The teachers union of Palm Beach County declared an impasse after the district offered the lowest raise in years amid negotiations over higher teacher salaries.
The Classroom Teachers Association is aiming for a 5% raise, but the district countered with 1.5% average raise and a one-time bonus as it seeks to adjust to a shortfall of $40 million in its budget and a drastic enrollment drop.
" The district can and needs to do better, even in this tough time for them," CTA President Gordan Longhofer told WLRN. The stance the union has taken is to show the funding for public schools "has to be sufficient to retain the great teachers that we have."
Enrollment in the district dropped by 6,600 students, according to the latest data. Funding is calculated by student head-count; fewer students means less funding.
Sean Cooley, district chief of communications, told WLRN in an email that the 5% raise CTA is seeking is "not fiscally responsible."
"Committing to that level of recurring expense would add approximately $50 million in new, permanent costs at the same time we are managing a $40 million budget shortfall," he said. "This would force layoffs of staff and require drastic cuts to student support programs."
"Our goal is to reach a fiscally responsible agreement as soon as possible so our teachers receive their pay increases without further delay," Cooley said. "We appreciate the hard work and dedication of our teachers..."
Palm Beach is the third most costly county in the state in to operate public schools, according to the Florida Price Level Index, which analyses the relative cost of personnel among Florida's 67 school districts. Palm Beach is also the nation's 10th largest school district.
" Too many teachers right now work additional jobs, some two, some three, in order to pay their bills. That model is not sustainable for public schools," Longhofer said.
Over the years, salary negotiations between the teachers union, which represents more than 12,000 teachers, and the district yielded raises. Last school year, teachers got a 7% raise and 3.5% raise in 2022-23.
Average teacher pay in the district is $69,300, higher than the state average of about $55,000 annually.
" It's understandable that our salaries might be higher than elsewhere in the state, but it's also necessary in order to attract and retain those high quality teachers that have gotten us those academic designations we've received," Longhofer said.
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The district has an 'A' rating and more than 40 schools earned 'Schools of Excellence' designations for the last school year.
The Florida Department of Education recently named Palm Beach schools one of 13 academically high-performing districts in the state.
On Nov. 5, the CTA filed a request for a special magistrate to the Florida Public Employees Relations Commission, the agency that handles public employee labor disputes.
The union hasn't declared an impasse on salary negotiations in over a decade.
" It just seems the right time to go ahead and make this stand having not done it in like 15 years," Longhofer said.
The district attempted requesting CTA skip the special magistrate to expedite the process, but the union declined.
If the district and CTA don't accept the recommendation by the special magistrate, the dispute would go before the school board.
About 100 people rallied on Wednesday to advocate for "competitive salary increases" because the district’s offer "would cause teachers to fall even further behind inflation," the press release said. The rally was organized by the CTA.
