Palm Beach County schools chief rejects 3.5% teacher raise recommendation
District had proposed 1.5% recurring raise and 1.5% one-time bonus
Palm Beach County teachers will remain without a raise for now as the schools superintendent has rejected a 3.5% raise recommended by a special magistrate.
The matter isn’t over yet, as the School Board is expected to make a final decision at a May 6 meeting. If the School Board sides with Superintendent Mike Burke’s recommendation, teachers would get a smaller raise than the Palm Beach County Classroom Teachers Association or the magistrate have proposed.
The Palm Beach County Classroom Teachers Association and the school district have been at an impasse since November over salary increases for the current school year.
The district proposed a 1.5% recurring raise and 1.5% one-time bonus, saying that a $66 million reduction in state funding due to a 7,000-student enrollment decline made it impossible to offer more. The union asked for a 4.8% raise, arguing that the district has plenty of money in reserves and could make cuts elsewhere.
Special Magistrate Michael G. Whelan heard the matter on Feb. 13 and ruled on March 26 to recommend a raise in between what the two sides were seeking.
“On balance, the evidence regarding the availability of funds weighs slightly towards the Union’s proposal because there is still some flexibility in the District’s budget to provide larger increases than it proposed, but the District’s current financial condition does not support increases at the level proposed by the Union,” Whelan wrote.
The union accepted the recommendation. The district did not.
“Teachers are beyond disappointed and flabbergasted at the misguided action of Superintendent Mike Burke. We judge our professional performance by our actions, not by words,” Classroom Teachers Association President Gordan Longhofer said in a statement. “All the praise from the Superintendent about our A-rated district and the incredible educators who help make such recognition happen now rings hollow.”
District spokesman Sean Cooley told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that the district’s budget is determined by state funding and student enrollment, and the state provided only enough funding for a 0.6% teacher raise. The district’s 7,000-student enrollment decline reduced the funding available for raises, he said.
“Despite these significant financial constraints, the School District proposed a raise package that was five times what the state funded,” Cooley said.
The district was unable to accept the special magistrate’s recommendation “as implementing it would require laying off staff and cutting support programs for students. As a result, the matter will now go before the full School Board for a final decision.
“The School District is eager to reach a resolution and get raises into the hands of our teachers as quickly as possible,” Cooley said.
The union is now asking the School Board to affirm the special magistrate’s recommendation.
“We are expecting all seven members to stand with the superior educators whose sole responsibility is to educate the children of Palm Beach County,” Longhofer said. “Don’t turn your backs on the teachers who have so faithfully done their job and done it very well. Grant them this raise that the neutral magistrate has said is needed, and reject a plan that forces teachers to fall even further behind financially than they are now.”
School Board Chairwoman Karen Brill told the Sun Sentinel that board members can’t comment because they are now in a “cone of silence” since they will be acting as final arbiters in the hearing on the matter.
