Today we met with the district for our 6th bargaining session. Clinton led with the following statement:
“We come into this session with a simple but urgent truth: Florida ranks 50th in the nation for teacher pay. Our teachers are hurting, and you’ll hear from them today as our team shares their stories. And as many know, teachers are leaving the profession in numbers that should alarm every single one of us.
In preparation for today, I also asked former teachers to share with me why they left, and the responses were heartbreaking. These were educators who loved their students and dedicated their lives to this career. But too many said they just couldn’t pay their bills on a teacher’s salary. Others said the stress and toxic environments had taken too great a toll.
Teacher pay hasn’t kept up with the rising cost of living. While we know Tallahassee must do better—and only provided enough for a meager 0.6% raise—the district has a responsibility to prioritize pay and fill the gap. Teachers can’t continue to bear the brunt of the state’s neglect.
We recently learned the district quietly gave some Assistant Principals a 5% increase—though they were told not to call it a raise, but a “market adjustment.” Let’s be honest: if your paycheck goes up, that’s a raise. And if Assistant Principals needed a market adjustment, then it’s even clearer that our teachers—who are struggling to keep up with the cost of living—desperately need one too.
And let’s not forget—this isn’t just about wages. Health insurance costs continue to weigh heavily on educators, many of whom are already struggling to make ends meet. Our proposals today address both of the fundamental issues of pay and health insurance.”
The CTA presentation from today, which includes our proposals, can be viewed on our website HERE.
SALARY
The district has not presented a salary proposal, so today the Union put a proposal on the table. The state has provided funding to cover a raise of 0.67%.
| Across the Board | Effective | Highly Effective |
| 1% | 3%(4% total which would be permanent and recurring) | 4%(5% total which would be permanent and recurring) |
RETENTION SUPPLEMENT
SELECT SUPPLEMENTS
The Select Supplements were proposed without any changes. While the union understands that more bargaining unit members deserve the supplement, adding additional educators will incur an extra cost that could have a negative impact on a possible salary increase for all bargaining unit members.
We have also included a placeholder for a future proposal about the one mill referendum. Your voice should matter when decisions are made on how the money is used. To read the entire proposal on salary, click HERE.
HEALTH INSURANCE
The CTA bargaining team was asked by you, our membership, to address the rising costs of health insurance and the declining quality of care in the health care system. We heard you and have done extensive work to think outside the box and create something new, something better, and something more cost-effective. Here is a creative solution we brought to the table for discussion: “Slice” Health Plan Option for 2026:
- New Health Plan Option through OCPS:
- The “Slice” plan proposed for next year is a high-performing, efficient, and low-cost network.
- Slice can save you and OCPS on costs
- Slice can improve health care outcomes and the overall quality of care
- Members choosing Slice agree to use selected, specialized, and highly regarded medical providers.
- No Employee Premium and Low Out-of-Pocket Costs:
- There is no employee premium for employee-only “Slice” coverage
- Dependent premium cost increases can be minimized by the savings achieved through the Slice plan
- Slice will be superior to the underperforming “SureFit” option in benefits/service/outcomes/costs.
- Current Options Stay in Place:
- Slice would be an additional option to the current options below.
- Local Plus Plan A
- High Deductible/HSA Plan B
- Open Access (OAPIN) Plan C
- SureFit Plan D
- Independent Plan Service Providers and Expediated Process:
- An independent new administrator
- An independent Actuary to verify Savings/costs
- A special procurement process will be initiated
- Slice Savings are For the Members:
- Savings independently calculated from Slice will be used to offset employee premiums/deductibles
- The OCCTA will be able to direct the savings to employees
- Employer Contributions will be Validated:
- The OCPS employer contributions will be set each year by the actuaries and contributed consistently into the Employee Benefit Trust.
- OCPS’s current under payment of employer contributions will cease and employees and reserves will be protected.
We know many of you wore red and your CTA buttons today. Be sure to send us photos so that we can include these in our posters. We will be meeting on Zoom today with the expanded Bargaining Committee to summarize today’s bargaining session. If your school still doesn’t have someone on this committee, feel free to join us at https://aft.zoom.us/j/2844033605?pwd=RWFpa0FOYnJBb05pKytWQUhxL1FvZz09&omn=92850779994.
The district has not brought any solutions to the table regarding our proposals on Walkthroughs, Maintenance Issues (including air conditioning), Artificial Intelligence, or School Climate. You are part of the bargaining process and can make a difference by letting your voices be heard. Contact the school board to let them know that teacher pay is a priority, but there are also opportunities to improve our working conditions that cost nothing. Our next bargaining session will be September 12.
