Hillsborough teachers slated for 8% raise

Most Hillsborough teachers will see about an eight percent raise under the contract agreement reached this afternoon between the district and the Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association.

The agreement sets the salary for a beginning teacher around $37,100. A teacher at the top of the salary schedule would earn about $61,300. Hillsborough also offers a variety of supplements, from performance pay to stipends for higher degrees and salary incentives to work in high poverty schools.

This year's eight percent raise follows last year's historic 10 percent salary boost for Hillsborough teachers. It comes at a time of financial uncertainty for school districts across the state, with the Department of Education warning about budget cuts.

The contract still must be ratified by teachers and approved by the School Board.

AN UPDATE: The school district also reached salary agreements for support staff, including teachers aides and bus drivers. They will receive 6 percent raises.

Principals and other administrators will see their salary increased by 5.5 percent.

Comments

[Goader]

Mysterious levels document finally found.

Click on my name to read all about it.

[Goader]

I have made my decision and 25% of the cause was enough to tip the scale to the no-brainer side under my particular circumstances. Click on my name to find out why.

[dixi.teacher]

I am a member of HCTA. I joined the first day I could. I believe in the democratic right for workers to unionize. However, this association of ours has no teeth, no clout and, to be blunt, no balls. I have attended many school board meetings and served for the association on hiring screening committees. What do I see – a lot of self-congratulations and cozying up to administration. I have quite a few fellow teachers who have chosen to give themselves an additional $600 raise this year by canceling their association membership. I have to admit that I am thinking about it. Tell me why I should remain a member of HCTA, and don't tell me what FEA has done, tell me what HCTA is and will do for me and my fellow teachers (you know those of us who pay the salaries for the association through our dues.)

[dixi.teacher]

Mr. Perry,

Yes, I know the T in T-payroll meant temporary. It also meant that having to teach a 6th class was temporary and voluntary, which why a teacher received the T-payroll. Unless you have refused to pay any attention at all to the concerns of High School teachers, you will know that next year we are all being FORCED to teach a 6th period without compensation. That is the problem. So now I do the same amount of work as I did last year for 2% less. If I was only going to teach the standard 5 periods I would take what amounts to a 2% raise and be o.k. But I am not teaching 5 periods, I am teaching 6.

It is not the 300 minutes teaching time we are upset about, it is the additional 30 some-odd kids who come with it. That's 30 more essays to grade, 30 parents to call, 30 more possible differentiated strategies needed, 30 more tests to grade, 30 more conferences, 30 more attendance records. And yes, I have seen my rolls for next year and three electives I am teaching have an average of 38 kids in each class.

[John Perry]

Goader, You can stop holding your breath. I don't know the answer to the first question about the makeup of the administrators' 5%, but administrator raises have nothing to do with the teacher ratification vote. They have their own organization to represent them. When we get our ballot from CTA, it will only have teacher pay/contract language, etc. Even though ESPs are in our bargaining unit, they have their own separate vote to ratify their pay and/or contract.

[John Perry]

As usual, Timmy, no point, just a lame attempt at an insult. Actually, I'm a teacher. I have the integrity to sign my name and stand behind what I say. So who and what are you? Yeah, I know that amounts to a rhetorical question. You'll never come out from under your rock and identify your cowardly self.

[Goader]

If I may borrow from Bloom, I would like to summarize our position. We have some KNOWLEDGE of the details of the raise, but not quite enough. Together we are gaining UNDERSTANDING of its implications. Through mental APPLICATION, we individually study its meaning. We now have several forms of ANALYSIS to contemplate. We are awaiting responses so we might SYNTHESIZE the information to see if works for us. Finally, we hope to be in a position to EVALUATE its substance so we might cast an informed vote.

In the meantime, as we await further information I have another inquiry. We have not discussed the administration raise much. The statement* in the St. Petersburg Times says, "Principals and other administrators will see their salary increased by 5.5 percent." That is glaringly simple language compared to the teacher raise with all its conditions and convoluted language. I'm not sure where the paper got that information.

I have two questions. Is the administration increase a straightforward 5.5% across the board raise? And, is it part of a package so that when teachers vote for or against the proposal is it included in that vote? In other words, do administrators and teachers vote for their respective raises separately? Or, is there only one vote where everyone, teachers and administrators vote for a package-type deal. That's it. Can anyone provide an answer to these two questions? Don't worry I won't hold my breath.

*http://blogs.tampabay.com/schools/2007/07/hillsborough-te.html

[Timmy!]

I am weary of such shallow, effite responses like:

"I guess you never realized that the "T" in "T-Payroll" stands for "TEMPORARY" as though you had a learning disability."

John needs something as subtle as a flying mallet Dixi. You'd think a co-editor would display more understanding. We got your point.

He misses more points than Stevie Wonder at the foul line.

[John Perry]

Dixi, I guess you never realized that the "T" in "T-Payroll" stands for "TEMPORARY."

[dixi.teacher]

Mr. Perry,

I am not getting an 8% raise over last year. I am getting 2% loss in overall pay. Last year, I was paid extra for teaching a 6th period and this amounted to a 10% increase in pay. With this so-called 8% pay, I am still making less this year than I did last year. So unlike your statement, I will be seeing 2% less each pay check not 8% more. Many teachers are experiencing this with the loss of their T-Payroll.

Please Mr. Perry, explain to me how this motivates anyone. Buyer Beware: You get what you pay for. It seems to me that the district is only paying for mediocrity.

[John Perry]

Goader, thanks for your thoughtful comments. We must also take news outlets to task for oversimplifying things.

[Goader]

May I interject (hoping not to inflame the issue) an opinion on the 20-minute situation?

I think the main point some of us are making is that it was a bit disingenuous to champion the 4.3%, which compensates the extra 20 minutes as a "raise." The administration needs to remind itself that it is dealing with teachers—obviously well educated people. We might be placid and sometimes complacent when it comes to contractual issues, but we are far from stupid. It is counter productive to have presented the raise in the way that it was. Yes, it is more money for working more hours, so just say it that way. Don't bark it out like we were at some carnival and you are trying to sell us something.

An alternative presentation might have been:

All teachers will receive what amounts to a 4.3% increase in their paychecks due to increasing the workday to 8 hours.

Those teachers that move up one level will receive the additional 2% that is built in to the level system. Here is the level format so teachers may see who is eligible to move up a level.

Due to a mistake when originally formatting the level system some teachers will receive another 2% for X number of years to correct that mistake. Here is a list of the levels affected and their respective correction percentages.

We are happy to announce an across the board 2% raise for all teachers.* We wish it could have been more but Florida is in a budget dilemma and, as you are aware, property taxes are about to be reduced, which will reduce our budget.

*Teachers at the highest level will receive a $1000 bonus in lieu of a 2% increase. The reasons for this are…

I believe presenting it in this way would have showed all the increases, however, without sounding like something from a political spinmeister. I believe had it occurred this way the dialogue would be less contemptuous and more informative. We do need to discuss the details so we can make an informed decision, which might mean accepting a less than desirable raise because of state financial problems. I only said "might" not will.

[John Perry]

I'm a "district tool" because I'm fine with being paid for time I already work? I have never met a teacher that gets all their work done in the 7 hours and forty minutes we're paid for now. ALL teachers work for free on their own time. I guarantee you Angry Teacher HAS BEEN working for free.

Also, the 20 minutes that brings us to an eight hour day was not a unilateral decision on the part of the district. It was voted on and ratified by teachers.

My work with FCAR is volunteer work, as is the union work I do. I do what I do as an advocate for children, teachers and public education. None of that includes being an apologist for administrators, and having a different viewpoint on the 20 minutes doesn't make me that, either.

[Timmy!]

Dear John
The Ybor shell game reference was trying to draw a local parallel between the purpose of a shell game (dupe the mark) with what the district, union, and to some extent the media is doing. That being: how they are characterizing the "raise".

Check out "The WALL", "Goader", Sysiphus, etc. blogs for some pretty thoughtful postings.

I got there via Suzie's posting a while back.

You took Angry Teacher to task for not being willing to work free for 20 minutes a day like you do. I merely pointed out that forced charity is an oxymoron. Pay me for my time, talent and skill. If YOU want to give it away that's ok with me but to demand everyone do what YOU do? Well I'm at a loss as to how to make it more simple.

Admittedly the FCAR was a cheap shot John (you ARE the co-editor which is a little more than JUST a member) but man you seem like such a district tool.

[John Perry]

Goader, thanks for the detailed analysis.

Timmy, whoever you are, you're not making any sense (I too would stay anonymous if I were you). What teacher completes all their work within their paid hours? Any teacher worth their salt is working many hours above and beyond what they're paid for; therefore, your comment is nonsensical.

New position with FCAR???!!!! Huh? I've been a member of FCAR since June, 2001. I am and will continue to be a classroom teacher, so the comment about "roots" is a non sequiter. Again, your comments make no sense, and again, I can see why you remain anonymous.

[Goader]

I am willing to adjust my opinion of the teacher pay raise in the following way. First, let's take out of the equation the number of hours worked. Everyone works many hours per week public or private; there is not much sympathy for mentioning it in the debate. Additionally, there is not much sympathy for the number of months per year a teacher works. Therefore, we will subtract that from the equation and say everyone works one year regardless of how many months. With those conditions in place, let's analyze the increased money.

1. There is an approximate 4.3% increase across the board—all teachers receive it. (Accounts for the additional 20 minute per workday)

2. If, and only if, a teacher is up for a level change he or she will receive an additional 2% increase. The problem here is we do not know if we are eligible for a level increase or not. Where is the level structure document? (PERHAPS A REPORT WILL ASK FOR THIS DOCUMENT AND PUBLISH IT SO TEACHERS KNOW IF THEY ARE ELIGIBLE TO GO UP A LEVEL.) (Levels do not correspond one-to-one with years of service.)

3. There is something about 199 days versus 201 days. What does that mean? The pat answer is we will not be docked for those two days. Does that mean another across the board increase to cover the two days? If so, what percent does that work out to be and is it different for each level? In other words, how is the pay for those two days going to be accounted for in the raise? (PERHAPS A REPORTER WILL INQUIRE ABOUT THIS AND PUBLISH THE ANSWER.)

4. There is some mumbo-jumbo about adjusting mid-levels to correct some past mistake. I am assuming this is not part of the across the board raise since only some will benefit. (PERHAPS A REPORTER WILL INQUIRE ABOUT THIS AND PUBLISH THE ANSWER SO TEACHERS WILL KNOW.)

5. Finally, there is a straightforward 2% across the board increase for all teachers except the top level (27 or whatever it is). In lieu of a 2% increase, those teachers will receive a lump sum (called a bonus) sometime during the year. I do not understand why the last level is not receiving the 2% increase. (PERHAPS A REPORTER WILL INVESTIGATE AND PUBLISH THE INFORMATION SO TEACHERS WILL KNOW.)

Let's do the math.

4.3% (everyone)
2.0% (only teacherS eligible to go up one level, but no one knows what that means)
?.?% (unknown factor to account for the difference between 199 and 201 days)
?.?% (unknown factor to correct past mistake some levels, no one knows which ones or how much)
2.0% (straightforward across the board, all levels increase except the top one, no one knows why)

There it is all laid out and after we fill in the question (?) marks we will be ready to get a total. Right now, we do not have enough information to reach a total or make an informed decision to vote for or against it. (PERHAPS A REPORTER WILL GATHER THE MISSING INFORMATION AND PUBLISH IT SO TEACHERS CAN MAKE AN INFORMED DECISION.)

[Timmy!]

Hey let's invite John Perry to our Ybor shell game. What a mark!

I don't work for free John. You did. That's your choice. Don't slam Angry Teacher for valuing his time.

I guess your new position in FCAR has affected you. Remember your roots.

[John Perry]

Angry Teacher, I have news for you. The 4.3% is not for extra work. I'm getting paid for an extra 20 minutes, 20 minutes THAT I ALREADY WORK. Now, if I could only get paid for all the other hours per week I spend grading papers, making lesson plans, etc., I'd be a rich man. Stop griping and moaning. You and I and the rest of us will be receiving paychecks this year that are 8% better than last year. That's the reality. Of course, that reality doesn't give you a reason to gripe and moan, so I don't suppose you'll be admitting it any time soon.

[AnotherAngryTeacher]

You guys never do your homework! You take the feel good press releases that SDHC sends out and take them as gospel. 4.3% of the so called 8% raise requires more work. In my book that is not a raise that is being paid for more work and simply that. And the amount of work is about 50 hours more a year. Would you call that a raise if you had to work a week and a half more at your same rate of pay? No sane person would. This is a very old trick that SDHC uses with the press and the public and YOU let them get away with it.

2% of the so called raise is to try to correct some of the crap that SDHC did to the salary scale in previous years and only affects people in the middle of the pay scale. I for one have 17 years in and I am only making about $1500 a year more than a starting teacher!! Another trick that SDHC uses is that they quote what a starting teacher gets paid and not how little people on the rest of the scale gets paid. So most of the teachers in the county do not get this 2%.

The last 2% everyone gets except for people at the top of the scale. They only get a so called $1000 bonus, it is called this so the county does not have to count it as part of the teachers income for retirement. Screwed again!!

Seems like the Times needs to learn how to do math because teachers really are getting a 2% raise and not an 8% raise. If you are a product of the school system well I guess you are getting what you paid for. If you want good schools you have to pay for them.

I remember a time when reporters actually went out and investigated the news and not just repeat what is given to them as the truth! Check your FACTS! You still do that right? You should be ashamed to call yourself a journalist.

Another angry teacher.

[dixi.teacher]

The last poster got it right. We are not paid to be great; we are only paid to get the job done. That is the problem. And it happens everyday...great teachers figure out they are not being paid like they're great and so the work down to the mediocre level of pay the earn. The public needs to stop demanding greatness until they are willing to pay fo it.

I am a high school teacher in Pinellas County and I refuse to pay for school supplies for students. Here are my reasons…
1. According to my job description, I am to teach. Materials are for kids to bring.
2. They are not my child.
3. If they intend on going to someone’s college or at the lowest level a training course to “advance” themselves, they will need to bring materials to be successful.
4. Part of the public school’s problem is that we forget that we baby kids to death.
5. When most students have on expensive clothes and/ or a cell phone priorities are out of line.
6. Coming to school isn’t an accident…they knew when they woke up that morning that it was a school day. They know that they will need something to write with and write on.

Teachers do work hard…each class is like a “regular” business person running three departments (if you are on block) in a “regular” job. Six if you are on that schedule. I accept it because I love it.

The final problem with the school system is this…and this may bring some heat to my comments but oh well.

We are not paid to be great! We are paid to get kids to pass a test and graduate. Kinda like the lowest bidder on a highway paving project. We are not paid like an athlete, doctor, or lawyer. They are paid to be great in their respective systems and greatness is expected from them. The system that we work for doesn’t expect it! They may ask for it but they can’t afford to pay for it. Instead they come up with gimmick pay raises and reward systems.

As a teacher I have experienced the lack of greatness that the public education system expects. There are teachers that bust their hump, for what? 8%. Then there are teachers that just do what they are paid to do and nothing more. They will never make teacher of the year but who cares. You know how hard that award is to win? And what does it matter in the long run?

Then there is the part about having a higher degree…that seems to be a difference of 1500.00 a year, if you are lucky. So, they are really telling you something there. Your 5 – 10 thousand dollar Master’s is GOOD but not GREAT.

Final note, I love my teaching job. I bust my hump for those kids but I realize the game. I reach for greatness despite the pay, but we all knew what we were getting into when had to pay for our own fingerprints! HA

[Ruthie]

Jocelyn, I teacher special ed too, so I know exactly what you are saying. Most people would think that they'd entered one o fDante's circles of hell if they spent a week in a classroom with teens with behavior disorders. It takes a lot of training and experience to teach in that enviroment. Yes, Kudos to Hills for recognizing teacher's efforts. I work in Pinellas, our sup is painting a picture of doom and gloom. Translation, no raises this year. If that does happen, this 'highly qualifed' teacher will be relocating to a district that does appreciate their teachers. If you are in special ed, you can write your ticket and teach anywhere. It's great to be in demand!

[Jocelyn]

Let me thank the teacher supporters out there. I personally left the "corporate" world to become a teacher last year. I took a 30k paycut and yes that was my choice. It hurt bad and our family cut out the extra pleasures, but we've made it. Just the little increases that Hills is making shows us that we are appreciated and we deserve it. I teach special education and I work 50 hours a week just at work, not to mention nights and weekends. I'd like to see ANY of those teacher bashers spend a day in my shoes with kids that throw desks, call us names I haven't even heard of, and are 13 and can't read...NOT to mention the hundreds (maybe thousands) of dollars of my OWN money I've spent for supplies. Kudos to Hills for recognizing our efforts..thank you!

Teachers should be paid more. They are professionals. Look at what other professions pay.

People who continue to bash teachers are nothing but ignorant.

Let me thank all the teachers on this board for the job they do, and for having educated me and my children!

[B]

Teachers pay for school supplies because the geniuses that come up with the school budgets never bother to set any aside for classroom supplies.

Purchasing and procurement in school systems (not just Hillsborough - but Hillsborough is pretty screwed up) has no checks or balances that make sense - perfectly good technology that could be re-purposed at another school gets thrown in the dumpster, new books thrown away due to a change in curriculum instead of selling them to another school system and let's not forget the seemingly lack of any sort of competative bidding on anything.

Hillsbourgh School District is just too large NOT to have some sort of qualified and competant oversight (we have neither - a Superintendant that did a lousy job when she took over the IB program and who doesn't have a Doctorate - and she gets over 40 grand as a bonus for hanging on Leonard's coattails?).

How to fix it?

One of two ways:

Break up the district so that there is more local oversight (nothing like a room full of parents to influence a school board - well, at least any other school board except Hillsborough's - they should all be replaced) and none of this county bullying nonsence (Is it me or do the school board and the county commissioners do what ever the heck they want without concern or consideration for their constituents?)

If you must keep it all unified, toss the board and just about everybody who works for the SDHC downtown and put in some people who have successfully run large corporations.

What we desperately need is some old fashioned budget-conscious business sense.

The plus side here is that the school budget would actually go down (with the reduction of waste and competitive-bidding), taking taxes down with them (a good thing) and being able to properly provide a quality education for our children (by virtue of well-thought-out and supplied classrooms, a living wage for teachers (8% of next to nothing is not a whole lot) and a more education-conducive environment where the buildings aren't crumbling and bug-infested (some of our older schools) and equipment (like band instruments) is kept up-to-date and repaired at all our schools, not just the new one.

But what do I know - just 10 years in a Fortune 200 company and another 15 running my own business. And yes, I am married to a teacher. (We moved here from the Northeast and we know school districts can be run MUCH better than what we have now).

[Mr. P]

I'll guarantee you one thing. Very few, if any, of the people complaining about our pay raise has ever stood in front of a classroom filled with today's children. Until you've "walked a mile in our moccasins" you have no idea just how incredibly difficult our job is. You also have no idea how much most of us love what we do. If we didn't, we would have walked a long time ago, and noone who ever "walked a mile" would blame us. So now the starting salary is a whopping $37.000. And Elijah Dukes is making how much?

[mike]

First, I'm not a teacher.

Now, I don't understand why at the beginning of every school year I read stories about teachers buying basic supplies to give to their students.

Maybe the need the raise to provide to students what the school board should be providing.

Why do they end up buying stuff for their students every year?

[LAS]

Give me a break Dan and Sarah... you dont have a clue! Obviously, neither of you have ever taught before. You dont realize how much time and effort it really does take, not only teaching, planning, grading, and WORKING as well as the garbage you have to put up with from kids and parents. Teachers deserve a raise. You should go by that old saying, "try walking in their shoes" then maybe you would have a little more respect. How about you get out of the state?

[Brian]

Well Sarah you a are bitter grump! Dan also, I guess you can't get a real job so you're hateful to this profession for some reason. By the way it is a 4% raise! More time worked for more pay is not a raise it is standard practice. Otherwise it would be charity.

[Ruth]

I agree with Mike F and dixi, there are teachers that pour heart and soul into teaching & and it takes much more than the 7.75 hrs we work; try about 4 more hrs at night and at least 6 hrs on weekends, not to mention the inservices, and additional classes we take and the coaching and advising and just being what the students need today - I teach high school and I promise on my planning I am still teaching and mentoring - kudos to Hills. I wish it were more - maybe the rest of the counties will take heed! Shame on those of you who say "a teacher only works 195 days", I assure you it is NEVER only!

[Mike F.]

Dan T. and Sarah are obviously products of some failed school system somewhere. I bet they aren't from Florida, though. I think that they should try teaching 7 periods a day..no make that 6 periods. They wouldn't last one day dealing with what public school teachers have to deal with. Give the teachers as much as we possibly can.

2

[dixi.teacher]

Hey Sarah, when do you think we create relevant and rigourous lessons, when do you think we grade term papers and essays with rigor and relevance? Put your thinking cap on and realize you can't create lessons and grade when your are teaching. That stuff doesn't just magically happen -- it takes time.

[dixi.teacher]

To think that teachers from other counties are going to come to Hillsborough to teach because of this 8% raise is a joke. With the additional period I am required to teach next year that I was paid a full hours pay for each day last year, I am still taking an overall TWO PERCENT PAY CUT even with this raise. Hey, joe public they're your kids we are educating...don't you want the best for them. Cutting teachers pay overall is not the way to keep excellent teachers in the field or attract new ones.

[Sarah]

You "teach 6 of 7 periods"??? You're a teacher! What the heck do you think you are paid to do. Please.... sell your house and get out of Florida and be worthless somewhere else Dave.

[Dave]

I am sure this "raise" includes the fact that we are now teaching 6 of 7 periods, and they added 20 minutes to our work day. The raise is 4% for the extra period that the high school teachers used to make an extra hours pay a day for! In the end we are still losing money from last year, and I may have to sell my house!

[Dan T]

This is unconscionable in these times when county workers all over florida are losing their jobs, and others are expereincing deep cuts (and taxpayers are broke!). Yet another example of how completely screwed up the entire school system is. Come to think of it, add in all systems with unions who systematically destroy our ecomomy and produce poor quality everything for more money. Wow!

That will surely lure teachers from neighboring counties. How many openings are currently posted?