June 23, 2022
OCCTA reached an agreement today with the District!
Please read below:
Orange County Classroom Teacher Association
Negotiates HISTORIC SALARY INCREASES
IN NEW TENTATIVE AGREEMENT
Teachers will receive historic salary increases amounting to over $55 million in the tentative agreement reached between CTA and the School Board of Orange County on Thursday morning. CTA’s goal was to get teachers the highest raise possible before the school year begins.
The agreement came on the heels of two hard-fought impasse proceedings that ended in January of this year, including a dispute over teacher raises for the 2021-2022 school year. “Time and time again, we reminded the Board members that OCCTA will stand up to protect teachers’ rights, livelihood, and respect to ensure our students’ success. At the public impasse hearings, the Board acknowledged that the District’s approach and proposals at the bargaining table were largely out of step and promised to be more conscious and involved with what is put across the table,” said Wendy Doromal, OCCTA President.
We stood together and let the Board know our frustrations. We brought in our legal team and AFT economic expert to comb through the budget for every available dollar for raises for the 2022-2023 school year, and we let the Board know we expected nothing less. The Board listened to us and directed their negotiating team to reach an agreement with CTA that is well-deserved and will help to retain and recruit teachers.
By us standing together, we were able to secure the highest performance pay wage increase OCPS teachers have ever seen, and much needed changes to the arbitration process that will finally return control over grievances to teachers.
The tentative agreement will be voted on by members of the bargaining unit this summer.
Highlights of the 2022-23 Tentative Agreement:s
2022-2023 Wage Increases (Recurring):
Improvements to the Grievance and Arbitration Process:
SIGNED SALARY AGREEMENT TA 1 at this link: /z/-vf.0.0.0.23681.99B4EFA1141EADFEC0E5AF72A1E4D79829DE1503165B99791E927895D491CBCB
SIGNED ARTICLE 3 AGREEMENT TA 2 at this link: /z/-vf.0.0.0.23683.3055E74C0E9C6CFC293AB6379784F44F61859A2D3366F7B1D2A8356378CD529F
2022 – 2023 Tentative Agreement
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Who will receive the salary adjustment?
All CTA bargaining unit members will receive the $900 cost-of-living adjustment upon ratification.
Once the Summative Evaluation score is available, effective teachers will receive an additional salary adjustment of $1,800, and highly effective teachers will receive an additional salary adjustment of $2,425.
All increases also apply to Professional Service Contract (PSC) teachers.
2. Didn’t OCPS receive $59.5 Million to specifically be used for teacher salaries?
Yes, OCPS received $59.5 million in funding for teacher salaries in FY2022-23. However – and this is a big however – less than $19 million of that amount is NEW funding. The remaining $40 or so million is to fund recurring salary increases given in prior years, meaning it’s already been spent. TSIA only provided us with about $19 million, and the remaining amount is shared with charter schools leaving $16,071,028 for 2022 – 2023 salary increases. We blew past that amount.
3. How much will the salary package cost?
The package is worth around $55-56 million – the actual amount could be significantly higher depending on performance ratings and the size of the unit, which will likely grow with projected enrollment increases. As an illustration, the data we were provided shows
that 91% of teachers received Highly Effective. Increasing that amount to 95% increases the total package cost to around $58 million without even changing the overall size of the unit.
4. Why does the tentative raise not match inflation?
Inflation is a major problem facing our membership. But inflation alone doesn’t guarantee that funding is available for raises. Unlike the private sector, school districts can’t simply raise their prices to offset higher costs. The two main options available are Tallahassee increasing funding or passing another millage increase at the local level. We’re not defending this system, but those are the cards we have.
Inflation is a problem for workers everywhere, but the OCCTA raise beats the raises most received in 2022. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average wage increase in March 2022 over the prior year was 4.7%. The OCCTA tentative agreement increases salaries by more than 6% on average. We have more work to do, but this agreement is a step in the right direction (Source: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/eci.pdf ).
5. What about a higher increase for veteran teachers?
Florida law requires that teacher salary increases be based on teacher evaluation results and not on years of experience. The state has also prioritized raising minimum teacher salaries without regard to the salaries of veteran teachers and the resulting legislation has caused serious inequities.
This is why OCCTA successfully advocated for the longevity supplement, which veteran teachers received last year and will receive in 2022-2023 and 2023-2024; and the school board has promised to look for funds to continue a longevity supplement. OCCTA is in conversation with the district to get the 2022-23 longevity supplement to teachers as soon as possible.
6. Why do other counties have grandfathered salary schedules?
OCPS eliminated the grandfathered schedule in 2014. Those districts who maintained grandfathered salary schedules are also having compression problems and are subject to further legislative requirements. For example, the annual increase to the minimum base
salary must be at least 75 percent of the largest adjustment for an employee on the grandfathered salary schedule. Further, any compensation for longevity awarded to personnel on a grandfathered schedule must be included when calculating statutory limits on salary adjustments, such as the requirement that raises for highly effective employees on the performance salary schedule must be at least 25% greater than the highest raise for a grandfathered employee.
7. Why increase the minimum salary?
Increases in the advanced degree and 7th period supplements are directly tied to the minimum salary increase. Increasing the minimum by the amount of the COLA provides additional money to members of the bargaining unit that receive the supplements. Also, increasing the minimum guarantees that all bargaining unit members receive the $900 cost-of-living adjustment.
8. Why was the maximum increased to $101,050?
The amount reflects the highest salary that will be paid to instructional personnel.
9. What about the $59 million Teacher Salary Increase Allocation that Orange County received?
Again, most of the money allocated under the Teacher Salary Increase Allocation ($40,935,681) must be used to fund previous increases. The remaining amount (appx. 19 million) is shared with charter schools leaving $16,071,028 for 2022 – 2023 salary increases.
10. Will this be a one-time payment?
This is a salary adjustment that is added to your base salary and distributed throughout the year. It does not go away next year.
11. What happened with the $800 million the district received for increases?
Orange County did not receive $800 million for salary increases.
Tallahassee only increased funding for teacher salaries in Orange by $19 million for 2022-23—this agreement nearly triples that amount. Yes, Tallahassee increased
funding for teacher salaries, but it’s a far cry from adequate. The state increased the Teacher Salary Increase Allocation (TSIA) for Orange by an additional $19 million in 2022-23. In other words, TSIA only funded $300 of the COLA and one third of the performance raises (2% average increase). OCCTA had to fight to win bigger raises using funds not designated for salaries to nearly triple the total amount spent on salary increases next year.
12. What would be the average raise for teachers?
The average weighted raise is $3,212, or about 6% (the average salary before the raise was $53,000. $3,212 divided by $53,000 is 6.06%).
Ratification Voting FAQs for 2022-2023 Contract Ratification
Updated July 11, 2022
Q When will I receive a ballot?
A Ballots will be mailed to your home address with pre-paid return envelopes on July 1, 2022.
Q What is the voting deadline?
A Ballots must be received at the U.S. Post Office box no later than 11:00am on Thursday, July 28, 2022. They may be sent in by mail in the pre-paid return envelope.
Q Who can vote?
A All members of the bargaining unit may vote, regardless of membership in the union.
Q What if I am out of town and/or did not get my ballot in the mail, or if my ballot/return envelope are misplaced or spoiled?
A If you know you will be out of town, did not receive a ballot, or your ballot/return envelope are misplaced or spoiled, you may pick up a ballot at the CTA Office during regular business hours which are Mon.- Fri. 8:00am-5pm. If you pick up a ballot from the CTA Office, you will need to sign a form indicating that you picked up a ballot. If your ballot is spoiled, bring that ballot with you to the CTA Office to exchange it for a new ballot. You will then mail your ballot in the pre-paid envelope.
Q What if I am on a ‘protected’ mailing list and the RBELC is my mailing address? (This applies to spouses of law enforcement personnel, etc.).
A You may pick up a ballot at the CTA Office during regular business hours which are Mon.-Fri. 8:00am-5:00pm. If you pick up a ballot from the CTA Office, you will need to sign a form indicating that you picked up a ballot. You will then mail your ballot in the pre-paid envelope to the U.S. Post Office box.
Q How do I send in my ballot?
A You may mail your ballot through the U.S. Post Office using the pre-paid return envelope, but be sure to allow time for the U.S. Postal Service to deliver it to the U.S. Post Office box. Be sure you print your employee number, name and address on your pre-paid return envelope. If there are multiple family members living at the same address, each person should use their own envelope to return their ballot. Ballots must be mailed in the pre-paid envelope and received no later than 11:00 a.m. Thursday, July 28, 2022.
Q How does CTA verify that a voter is eligible to cast a ballot?
A The following process is in place to ensure voter eligibility:
• Ballots are mailed to CTA bargaining unit members (all instructional personnel) to their home address that is on file with OCPS.
• The unit member’s employee number and name and address will be verified against a list of all names of members in the bargaining unit.
• Ballots that are returned in an envelope without employee number, name and address, are not able to be verified and will not be counted.
Q Who will count the votes?
A The CTA Elections Committee, along with volunteers, will count the votes.
Q Where will the ballots be counted, and who can observe the count?
A The ballots will be counted at the CTA Office, 1020 Webster Avenue, Orlando, FL 32804 beginning at 1:00pm on Thursday, July 28, 2022. All members of the bargaining unit, regardless of their membership in the union, may observe the counting at the CTA Office at 1020 Webster Avenue, Orlando, FL 32804 or at the following zoom link: https://aft.zoom.us/j/98282090070?pwd=VHJLREI1Zk1QdUk5YitnbmZpVjhzZz09
Q When will the final ratification vote count be announced?
A The results will be announced immediately after the conclusion of vote counting and will be posted on the CTA website.
