NAPLES, Fla. — Teachers in Collier County could see a bump in their pay, but they are running out of time to see it early in the school year.
In this November's general election, voters in Collier County will either vote for, or against what's called the "tax neutral referendum".
At no cost to tax payers it would allow Collier County Schools to move about $60 million from it's capital fund to it's operating fund. If it passes, that's money the school district could use to pay teacher salaries.
Watch Collier County Community Correspondent, Dominga Murray's report:
"Teachers are struggling to put food on the table," Pam Baldwin, 1st vice president of Collier County's Education Association said.
Educators in the district say they're not being properly compensated for performance.
"CCPS students outperformed the state in 20 out of 21 categories," Steve Sullivan, another member of CCEA said.
The Education Associations latest ask is $2,000 extra added to base pay if the referendum passes.
The Collier County Public Schools gave us this statement:
"The District’s current salary proposals to the Teachers Union equate to an 11.1% increase for the entire Unit. In 2023-2024, teachers ratified and received a 12.5% increase for the Unit with individual percentage increases ranging from no lower than 6.5% to as high as more than 30%. In 2022-2023, teachers received a 9.7% Unit increase. Including the District’s current proposal(s), the Teachers Union will have an average of 11.1% Unit increases during the last three years.
The average Collier County Public Schools (CCPS) teacher salary of more than $69,000 and proposed starting teacher salary of $57,000 rank third in each category in the State. The CCPS starting salary is among the leaders nationally, according to the Union’s own data. The District is proposing to pay $20 million more than the State allocated to CCPS for teacher salary increases in the 2024-2025 contract year, while balancing fiscal responsibility and taxpayer stewardship.
The negotiating team for the District plans to continue to pursue steady, incremental teacher salary increases that maintain positioning among the leaders across Florida and the United States."
Ken Mouton, another CCEA leader says the budget for teacher salaries this year is $23 million and last school year it was $26 million.
"They're [teachers] being paid less as it relates to our economy and as it relates to inflation," he said.
To put those numbers in perspective, teacher's in the county start at $54,000 and the district is currently proposing bumping that pay to $57,000.
"We can't attract teachers at $54,000 a year, we can't attract teachers at $57,000," Baldwin said.
Educators say with the cost of living in Collier, that pay, is not enough. This is why the district and the union hope the referendum passes. Here's another issue, the union says, it wants the district to dip into a pot of money it's been saving on the side.
"Our district has got $122 million dollars in reserves, now of that $122 million, some of it is assigned, some of it is unassigned," Baldwin said.
$82 million of that money is unassigned according to the Education Association's data.
The union wants it used for teacher pay, but the clock is ticking to reach a decision.
"Teachers go back August 6 students go back the 13," Baldwin said.
She says at this point the district will have to back pay to July 1 and many who are a part of the union are upset. They say the school system manages money well, but not in every area.
"It's fiscally responsible that you [the district] can be debt free in 2026, but it's not responsible when you do it on the backs of your teachers when they can't pay their bills and they can't eat," Baldwin said.
July 29 is the next time the district and the education association will meet to iron out these details. The further a decision is pushed, the further teachers raise is pushed too. You can count on fox 4 to bring you the latest from that meeting.
