After fifteen rounds of negotiations with the Martin County School Board, I am pleased to announce that MCEA has reached a tentative agreement on a contract for the current school year!  This announcement is long overdue, but it means our teachers will finally see the raises that you all have worked so hard for over the past year. The vast majority of our teachers will see anywhere from a 3.6% – 6% raise for the current year. Just as a reminder, the formula for calculating your raise is as follows…

YES Salary Adjustment ($85 x Years of Experience) + Pay for Performance ($100, $75, or $50) + TSIA (Negotiated in August and already in your paycheck = Your 2023/24 Salary Increase

All of the components listed above will become part of your base salary moving forward. In addition to what is listed, teachers will receive a ONE-TIME bonus of $790. Most importantly, this salary package begins the process of alleviating some of the compression that has negatively affected our salary schedule for years. It is also a step towards closing the gap between our wages and the high cost of living in the seventh most expensive district in the state. Both of these were goals you identified at the start of the year.

We will dive into the language changes in a subsequent email, but you should know that MCEA was successful in defending your rights as employees. We rejected over a dozen attempts by the board to weaken our contract, and we expanded opportunities for teachers to have their voices heard. We fought against changes to the leave provision of the contract that would’ve negatively impacted teachers, and we won that too! In fact, the majority of the language changes we agreed to were simply changes that cleaned up the contract and modernized some of the sections.

All in all, this contract is huge victory for our teachers, and it is proof that good things can happen when we work together. Your engagement and involvement throughout this entire process was instrumental to our success, and for that you should be incredibly proud. From the crowds of teachers who showed up almost weekly to the folks who spoke up at school board meetings, and everyone in between, you all helped make this happen.

Our next step is a ratification vote, which should take place in the coming weeks. All of the details for that will come out to you via email and through the faculty rep(s) at your school site. In the meantime, should have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at Matt.Theobald@floridaea.org.

I was hoping to write to you last night saying that we settled the 2023-24 contract with MCSD, but unfortunately that is not the case. MCEA did come to the table prepared to finalize the contract so we could get the money you deserve into your hands as quickly as possible and begin working on next year’s contract.

Thanks to the diligence of our Chief Negotiator and our hard-working negotiations team, we were able to reach a tentative agreement on four issues. The first item we agreed upon was language that granted greater flexibility with how committees are formed to address the needs of employees throughout the district. This is a huge win for educators, as it allows us to amplify our collective voice regarding a variety of working conditions. We also secured an increased supplement for many of our Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs), and although we didn’t get everything we had asked for to help them do their job and earn a competitive salary, we feel that it is a step in the right direction. We also agreed to a salary placement schedule that prevents veteran teachers from being leapfrogged by new hires to the district.

The last item we agreed to was the economic package that included the YES salary adjustment, pay for performance, and a one-time $790 retention bonus. I spent much of the last negotiations update discussing the merits of the YES salary adjustment, but as a refresher it would pay teachers $85 for every year of verifiable teaching experience ON TOP OF what they would earn from pay for performance and what they have already received from TSIA. The only change from previous updates to what was agreed to last night is that this agreement is only for one year. This provides MCEA with flexibility to negotiate different amounts moving forward instead of being locked into a set number for multiple years, and it also provides us with opportunities next year and beyond to fight for greater dollar amounts for our teachers, while providing an opportunity to remain competitive with our neighboring districts on a year-by-year basis. It also helps to alleviate the compression we experience because of laws passed in Tallahassee, it honors our veteran teachers’ years of experience, and it gives newer teachers something to look forward to, should they choose to continue in their educational careers.  

While the YES proposal and retention bonus were wins for ALL teachers, our Elementary music teachers, track coaches, and yearbook sponsors will continue to work without compensation, despite promises made to several individual teachers from the board. MCEA will continue to fight for them until they are fairly compensated for their efforts, and the board will continue to hear from these amazing teachers, these amazing students, and their parents every school board meeting until the board honors their commitment. That’s what unions do; we fight until we win.  To those teachers, continue to stand strong-- we are not done fighting!

There are still a few outstanding issues that need to be addressed by the board, and MCEA will go back to the table on April 30^th once again with the intent to resolve them. If you would like to join us in that effort, please mark your calendar for 4/30/2024 at 4:30PM, location TBD. Thank you all for your dedication and your patience throughout this process. I know the road has been a long one but believe me when I say that we’ve come a long way over the past 14 sessions, and we wouldn’t be where we are today if it weren’t for your involvement in this process.

Session #13 3/26/24

Before I get into the specifics, I want you to know that this victory is the result of months of hard work, engagement, and organizing by YOU our dedicated members who have consistently showed up throughout this process in support of a fair contract. The room was PACKED last night, with over 50 people in attendance!

When we began this process, we sent out a survey, and 96% of you indicated that you wanted to see the current Pay for Performance structure replaced by a system that was more equitable and valued your experience in the classroom. At the same time, the school board came to the table with a proposal that would’ve paid our Annual Contract teachers $800 and our Veteran PSC teachers $600 using the same old Pay for Performance formula. Then something amazing happened… MCEA presented an incredibly powerful presentation highlighting the gap between our wages and the cost of living in Martin County and nearly FORTY teachers and community members began to attend these sessions! Slowly but surely, those numbers started to increase, and after 12 sessions, the school board finally started to listen to you.

Not only did we succeed in de-emphasizing Pay for Performance, but this agreement also does some other things:

• Honors your years of experience in the classroom.
• Helps to alleviate some of the compression resulting from the distribution of TSIA funds.
• Offers a one-time bonus of $790.
• Addresses the retention issue in this district that has resulted in the mass exodus of 456 teachers over the past four years.

Unfortunately, the board wasn’t prepared to come to the table to finish the remainder of the contract. We are still waiting for a response from them regarding our Elementary Music Teachers, Elementary Track Coaches, and Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs) so they can be fairly compensated for their efforts on behalf of our students and our community. It is safe to say, with absolute certainty, that MCEA isn’t the one holding up this process, nor have we ever been.

That issue was the major focus of a presentation from our Chief Negotiator, Gary Simmons, that turned out to be the highlight of the evening. Much of his presentation (which is attached to this email) focused on correcting the record and explaining why it ended up taking thirteen sessions for the board to finally make a competitive offer that turned out to be their “best and final” offer. For his efforts, Mr. Simmons received a vigorous round of applause from the crowd and a stern rebuke by the school board’s attorney. I guess he didn’t like hearing the truth about this process and that the YES proposal we agreed to was eerily similar to an agreement Gary reached in collaboration with another school district he negotiates for in Indian River County.

I’m sure the Superintendent will send out yet ANOTHER video touting this proposal, but I wanted to let you know that your salary increase for 2023-2024 would include TSIA monies (agreed to in August and already in your paychecks), Pay for Performance, and the YES adjustment. When added together, that will determine your raise for this year, and it is all recurring and completely pensionable. That formula looks like this:

TSIA Funds + Pay for Performance + Yes Adjustment ($85 x years of experience) = YOUR RAISE

Ironically, the video of last night’s session isn’t up on the district’s website yet, but we will gladly make that available to you as soon as we can. More information will also be forthcoming, but should you have any questions about this agreement, please feel free to email me at Matt.Theobald@floridaea.org. Our next (and hopefully last) session will be held on April 9th, back at the School Board meeting room. Thank you ALL for your perseverance through this process. This salary package is a testament to your determination and to the notion that there is strength in numbers. Because of you, we are STRONGER TOGETHER!!!

As always, thank you for all that you do! I am truly grateful for each of you, and I hope that you take a moment to celebrate this victory on behalf of all the teachers in this district! See you on April 9th.

Session #12 2/27/24

Warning! Long update ahead, but I promise its worth the read…

Yesterday evening, we participated in round #12 of negotiations with the School Board. At the start of that session, the attorney for the Board had expressed the Board’s desire to reach a settlement quickly to avoid going to impasse. The irony of that statement is that it is the School Board that has made these negotiations unnecessarily long by refusing to give their bargaining team the authority to make decisions at the table (each time they take an offer back to the board, it adds at least a week and sometimes more to the process) and by rejecting MCEA’s proposal to implement ground-rules specifically designed to make negotiations more efficient.

For those who are unaware, impasse is essentially a stalemate in the negotiations process where the proposals from both sides would be presented to a neutral, third-party mediator for review. After that review, the decision of the mediator would then be sent to the School Board to either accept or reject. This situation could be bad for our members because the Board could then impose their salary proposal and all their contract language provisions on us, causing us to lose certain rights and protections the contract currently affords us. The Board doesn’t want to go to impasse because then the public would be aware of how unwilling they are to pay us a living wage (and believe me, we are prepared to share that information widely). While the press may help us get the public on our side, it would do little else to help our members. Impasse would be harmful to both parties in this situation.

When I ran to be your union president, I promised to be transparent and to improve our communication with you, hence the lengthy explanation of impasse above and its potential impacts. In that same vein, I am going to do my best to explain the proposals that were put forward by the Board, but first I wanted you to know that, last night, MCEA offered a supplement proposal that would significantly increase the compensation for our SLP’s and would finally pay our elementary music teachers and track coaches for their efforts outside of workday, including Music in Our Schools and the Russel Holloway Track Meet.

And now, for the explanation of the Board’s proposal…

First, the Board countered our $2000 retention bonus offer with a one-time bonus of $790. This bonus would also be offered to our fellow education support professionals in AFSCME (ie custodians, bus-drivers, etc), and it would cost the district approximately $1 million.

Next, they countered our salary proposal with two separate options. Option 1 was to revert back to their proposal from January 18^th, which was an easy ‘no’ amongst the members of the bargaining team. Option 2 was very interesting, though. This option would lower Pay for Performance to $100 for AC Highly Effective, $75 for AC Effective and PSC Highly Effective, and $50 for PSC Effective. It would also pay teachers $85 for every year of verified teaching experience up to $3000. So, a teacher with 10 years of experience would receive $850, 20 years would receive $1700, 30 years would receive $2550, and 35 years and up would be maxed out at $3000. You would also be able to add $85 to your check after each year. To figure out what your raise would be, simply multiply your years of experience by 85 to get the amount (ie 16 years of experience X 85 = $1360). That’s much simpler than the way we’ve been trying to do it.

They are referring to Option 2 as the Years of Experience Salary adjustment or YES plan. What, makes it so interesting is that it would help achieve two of our longstanding objectives to increase pay for our veteran teachers and to widen the gap between new and veteran teachers caused by the passage of recent legislation. It also de-emphasizes the evaluations and high-stakes testing tied to performance pay, and it puts us on a path towards increased longevity pay (opening the door to explore percentage salary increases in the future). Lastly, Option 2 would increase the total cost of the Board’s proposed salary increase to approximately $4 million.

I apologize for the length of this email, but there was simply too much to share, and I wanted to give this information the thoroughness it deserves. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please email me at Matt.Theobald@Floridaea.org.

I want you to know that these are positive steps, and they were made possible because YOU showed up, YOU got engaged, and YOU made it happen. This fight isn’t finished yet, though, and we have at least one more negotiations session left on March 26^th. Should that one be our last of this school year, lets go out with a bang and show up wearing our Red for Ed. Those who do, just may be treated to a nice surprise at the end (wink, wink). Hopefully, once that’s done, we can begin to talk about ratification.

I want to start by thanking all those who attended tonight's negotiations session and stuck it out through the delay due to some car trouble experienced by our Chief Negotiator while enroute to our session. We’re glad he arrived safe and sound to guide our discussion at the table.

Despite the hiccup at the beginning, this was one of our most heavily attended sessions this year and BY FAR the largest gathering that we’ve had at the new location. Let’s keep up the pressure because I believe that the fruits of our labor are starting to show, as evidenced by tonight’s events (or lack thereof). For those in attendance, I know things didn’t quite turn out the way they were advertised, but that happens sometimes during the negotiations process. Despite the best laid plans, you never know for certain what’s going to happen when you sit down at the table.

In this case, the fact that the School Board did not offer a salary counter proposal might be an indication of some positive movement in our favor, which is a good sign considering every time they’ve countered right away, it has only led to a $200 increase in their offer. Hopefully, the delay will result in a more thoughtful proposal from the Board that brings us closer to closing the gap between our wages and the high cost of living in this district. If that’s not the case, MCEA is committed to keeping up the pressure in order to secure a livable wage that reflects our value as professionals.

Because the Board requested more time to respond to our offer, the MCEA Bargaining Team decided not to follow through with our intended plan as we had indicated to you in previous emails. While that plan certainly has merit, and will be presented at some point, following through in light of the Board’s delay would have more than likely resulted in an outright rejection of the proposal and a reconsideration of what ever offer they plan to present at our next session. In this case, it may have been in everyone’s best interest to remain still now so that we can take a bigger leap forward in the future.

Until that time, I strongly urge all our teachers to attend the School Board Workshop on February 13^th where the Board will be discussing MCEA’s retention bonus. They have said in previous sessions that they want to entertain the idea, and this workshop will provide the perfect opportunity for us to tell our stories and explain why they need to consider it. That meeting is scheduled for 4pm at the New School Board Meeting Room on February 13^th, and I can’t imagine a more impactful message than a sea of RED in the audience united in solidarity and advocating for better pay. I hope to see you there!

Thanks again for all you do, and I look forward to seeing all of you at the Board workshop on the 13^th.

Tonight’s negotiations session was relatively short, but not necessarily sweet, so I’m going to keep this update as brief as possible…

The MCEA reaffirmed our commitment to closing the gap between our wages and the high cost of living by offering a salary counter proposal of $2600 for Highly Effective Annual Contract employees, $1950 for Effective Annual Contract employees, $1950 for Highly Effective Professional Service Contract employees, and $1850 for Effective Professional Service Contract employees, once again matching the School Board’s energy and only coming down $200 from our previous proposal, the same amount they increased theirs last week.

In addition, we stood fast in our protection of the contract by rejecting nearly a dozen language proposals from the School Board that would have weakened our collective bargaining agreement and taken away some of the rights and protections we currently have as employees. If you want to see a glimpse of what life would be like without your union, just imagine not having a say in your classroom observations, student grades, or how to address health and safety issues, and losing the ability to discuss and resolve problems or concerns at your school site. All this (and more) was on the table tonight, and all of it was flatly rejected by your union. These issues would have had a negative impact on non-union members too, and they need to know that without a union standing up for them, there is nothing to prevent this School Board from imposing their will on all the educators in this district, so please share this news with them as well.

We will continue to stand up for your rights and be your voice, but we need your help. There is strength in numbers, and we intend to show the Board our strength at our upcoming negotiations session on January 30^th and at the School Board Workshop on February 13^th. Your presence at these events will send a powerful message to the Board that we demand to be treated like professionals and that we deserve a salary that is fair and allows us to provide for those we care most about. Please mark your calendars now and plan on wearing Red for Ed at both events.

As always, thank you for your time and know that you are appreciated for all that you do. Keep up the great work and we will see you at our next negotiations session!

I want to start by thanking those who attended yesterday’s negotiations session at the New School Board Meeting Room and wore Red in support of our cause. Your continued presence helps make the case that our teachers are tired of the status quo and that we demand a fair wage for our labor. I also want to thank Eric Gzimalowski from FEA who was there to document the proceedings and interview members regarding their feelings about the process. Many expressed their frustration at the slow pace and the unwillingness of the School Board to reward teachers for their performance in raising student scores and helping the MCSD move into the top ten in the state with regard to student performance.

Those in attendance were keen to notice that the Board, once again, failed to acknowledge that Martin County also ranks seventh in terms of cost of living and 46^th when it comes to teacher salaries, and their counterproposal reflected that. Coming in with a ‘whopping’ $200 increase to their previous offer to annual contract teachers and a measly $100 - $150 increase to veteran teachers, the Board’s offer currently stands at $1200 and $900 for highly effective and effective annual contract employees and $900 and $800 for highly effective and effective employees on Professional Services Contract, respectively. In contrast, the MCEA offer stands at $2800 and $2100 for highly effective and effective annual contract employees and $2100 and $2000 for highly effective and effective employees on Professional Services Contract. Moving in $200 increments, it's going to take a while to bridge the gap between our wages and our cost of living.

The lone bright spot of the evening occurred when the Board finally acknowledged the severe shortage of Speech Language Pathologists in our schools and offered an increase to their supplement in an effort to attract more qualified people to the district. MCEA will compare their offer to that of surrounding counties, and we will make sure that our counterproposal is competitive. Our SLP’s and the students they serve deserve that consideration, and since this situation affects all of us, it's worth keeping an eye on.

If you find yourself frustrated by the Board’s offer and at the slow pace of negotiations, I strongly urge to attend our next session on January 23^rd at 4:30pm in the New School Board Meeting Room. A packed house, all wearing Red for Ed, will send a very clear message that we are unhappy with the current state of affairs. Your involvement is crucial to our success and will help us secure a contract that is fair and reflects the hard work we put in on behalf of the students in this community, day in and day out. I hope to see you there!

First, I have to say that the new school board meeting room is a wonderful facility, and if you haven’t visited yet, I strongly encourage you to check it out.

As for the session itself, it was fairly brief, with MCEA spending the majority of the time presenting our new salary proposal and addressing several key issues that the district failed to address in their presentation from December 19^th. Last night’s presentation is attached for you to review, but one of the biggest takeaways you will see is that MCSD ranks 9^th in the state in student performance scores, 7^th in the state when it comes to cost of living, and 46^th in teacher pay (important figures for discussing Pay for Performance salary increases). Martin County is also home to the most experienced teachers on the Treasure Coast. Only Palm Beach County averages higher years of experience, and the only reason for that is because they have more teachers in the district. Our teachers have clearly performed, and now it's time for the Board to recognize those efforts and compensate us accordingly!

In response to our first salary proposal, the School Board raised their initial offer by $200. MCEA chose to meet that energy by reducing our initial offer by $200 as well. According to our proposal, Highly Effective Annual Contract teachers would receive $2800 and Effective Annual Contract teachers would receive $2100. The raises for teachers on Professional Services Contracts would be $2100 and $2000 for highly effective and effective evaluations, respectively. The total cost of our proposal is approximately $2.5 million.

In addition to this proposal, we also offered a fix to the current Millage MOU that would allow those teachers who receive a promotion to still receive at least a pro-rated share of the millage for their time in the classroom. This fix would only apply to a handful of employees this year, but it would allow any teacher moving forward to accept a raise within the district without losing out on the retention stipend they earned during the school year.

We will see how the district responds to this much-needed change and to our salary counter proposal at our next session, scheduled for January 18^th. We also have sessions scheduled for 1/23 and 1/30 as well, all of which will take place at 4:30pm in the New School Board Meeting Room. Additionally, the School Board will be discussing MCEA’s retention bonus at a workshop at 4pm on February 13^th, and you certainly won’t want to miss that one, as it will be an opportunity for the Board to hear directly from you regarding what is and isn’t working with regard to teacher retention.

Tonight’s negotiations session was a fairly productive one considering that there weren’t many proposals exchanged by either party at the table. Those in attendance were treated to a nice surprise, though, and I’m not just talking about the brownies provided by one of our members (although those were delicious and totally lived up to their legendary status).

The most exciting news of the evening was that there is consensus among the School Board members to entertain our retention stipend proposal initially offered during session #5. Given the turnover rates in the district right now, this didn’t come as much of a surprise. We were told that the details still need to be worked out, so we have no idea what the final amount will look like, yet, but the fact that they are willing to pursue the idea is a step in the right direction.

Along those same lines, another positive takeaway from tonight’s session is that the union and the district had a healthy discussion regarding the financial presentation we made at the last session. While there was no movement closer to an agreement on Pay for Performance raises, the conversation was productive and a step in the right direction. As they say, “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” but I believe that they provided us with a pathway forward towards a successful settlement regarding salary.

The only real low point of the evening came during the District’s financial presentation where some of the data presented didn’t seem to match the current realities our teachers face in the classroom on a daily basis. They also didn’t address the fact that Martin County ranks 7^th in cost of living and 46^th in terms of average teacher pay, and the comments made regarding budget shortfalls definitely raised a few eyebrows. Those in attendance were left with a lot of questions, and MCEA is committed to getting answers to those questions when we return to the table on January 11^th.

In conclusion, I would like to thank those who attended tonight for their continued support, as well as those who could not make it but still wore red today at school in solidarity. Your impact is definitely felt by the other side, and together we are moving the needle in the right direction. Keep up the amazing work, and I hope you all enjoy your last day of school before the winter break. Thank you for all that you do!

I want to start off this update with a HUGE thank you to the 40 or so teachers who came out to tonight’s session all wearing red and another shoutout to the countless number of teachers who couldn’t attend but still wore red at their school sites in support of a better contract and a fair wage. Keep up the amazing work! It’s making a difference.

Those in attendance tonight were treated to an incredibly eye-opening presentation from our Chief Negotiator, Gary Simmons, who eloquently painted a picture of where Martin County stands in relation to surrounding counties when it comes to cost of living and teacher pay (spoiler alert: one of those figures is really high and the other is extremely low). Many in the audience were shocked and audibly gasped at the information he presented. It was incredibly powerful.

Equally as powerful was the elegant solution that the MCEA put forward as a counter-proposal to resolve many of the issues Gary addressed in his presentation. In addition to our $2000 retention stipend, we offered a Pay for Performance package that would’ve paid $2250 HE/$2000 Eff for PSC teachers and $3000 HE/$2250 Eff for Annual Contract teachers. We felt that a proposal of this magnitude would go a long way towards retaining teachers, providing some much-needed continuity in this community, and it would do so in a way that was fiscally responsible, costing the district approximately $3.8 million (keep in mind that whatever the final amount agreed to for Pay for Performance will be added to the amount you received from the TSIA money earlier in the year to make up your total salary increase for the year).

Our offer was met immediately with a pre-prepared counter-proposal from the district that was only a $200,000 increase from their initial offer. Hopefully, they will take the next two weeks to allow the info we presented to sink in a little bit and make a legitimate attempt to meet us in the middle. In addition to this exchange of proposals, the MCEA also rejected some of the contract language previously proposed by the District that would’ve weakened our contract and limited our rights as employees. We were not fooled by this Board’s attempts to undo the commitments made to teachers by previous School Boards, and we are committed to fighting their continued efforts to deny our Union basic rights that we have won through the collective bargaining process.

I encourage you to talk with your colleagues and share this information with them, both members and non-members, because it absolutely affects all of us. It is simply too important to keep to ourselves. I hope that you will read it and share it, and that it will inspire you to join us at our next negotiations session on 12/19, where we will offer Part 2 of this presentation along with some additional salary proposals. If you missed this one, I promise you won’t want to miss out again.

The District and the MCEA each exchanged one proposal at the table, with MCEA proposing ground rules intended to expedite the process and help us reach an agreement sooner. Some of the ideas proposed included giving both sides the authority to make decisions at the table, providing written proposals that are clearly defined, and offering access to a mediator prior to declaring impasse. Overall, there were twelve norms presented to the District for consideration.

As for the District, they put forward a salary proposal that was not very well received by those in the room. With a total cost to the district of about $1 million, they offered $800 for highly effective and $600 for effective for Annual Contract teachers and $600 for highly effective and $500 for effective teachers on Professional Services contracts. Needless to say, we did not agree to these terms, and we plan on responding with a counterproposal that more adequately reflects your value as professional educators.

Please mark your calendars for NEXT Tuesday (11/14) as we go back to the table to exchange more proposals. With your help, I am confident that we can get more than 50 people in the room and help us realize our true power. Your presence DEFINITELY makes a difference!

Last week, your MCEA Bargaining Team met with the District to continue our negotiations surrounding TSIA funds. At that session, the District informed us that they had to withdraw their previous proposal because there was a misalignment of employees and their years of experience on the proposed salary schedule, which resulted in an incorrect distribution of funds. Unfortunately, the new proposal they put forward did not help the “middle” of the salary schedule as much as the initial proposal did. While the specifics are too much to include in a single email, some of the most notable differences between the two proposals are as follows:

• The base salary will still be increased to $49,500, but that increase only applies to the first step on the schedule, whereas it was previously applied to steps 1-8.
• Individuals on steps 2 through 6 would see the largest raises of anyone on the salary schedule.
• The average raise for steps 9-29 is about $2000 less than the original proposal.
• The remaining steps on the schedule from 30 and up would receive raises ranging from $300 to $900, with those serving the longest receiving the smallest amounts.

While the proposal from the School Board does raise the base salary and help ease some of the compression on the salary schedule, it certainly doesn’t go far enough to help those in the middle of the scale or our veteran teachers. MCEA is committed to fighting for fair wage increases for ALL of our teachers, and we will return to the table with a proposal that reflects that. We have two more sessions scheduled for 4:30pm on August 15^th and 22^nd at the Stuart Learning Center, and you are encouraged to attend.

Your Bargaining Team went into this session with three objectives: to reduce compression at the bottom of the pay scale (Skyward steps 1-17), to help those teachers in the middle who have been teaching for over a decade making the same as a brand-new teacher, and to raise the base salary in order to be more competitive with surrounding districts. We are pleased to report that School Board shares those same goals, and the proposal that the District put forward appears to reflect that.

The District’s proposal includes raising the base salary (not including pay for performance) to $49,500 for Skyward steps 1-8. It also includes higher raises to steps 9-30 to help reduce the compression between those steps, and it offers raises to all the remaining steps on the scale so that everyone receives an increase. The specifics of theses raises are still subject to negotiation and could fluctuate depending on the number of teachers employed by the District, so I’m not going to list everything here, but feel free to email me with any specific questions you may have. We are also sending this proposal to FEA for review to see if this offer really is as good as it appears, and we will return to the negotiations table August 3^rd at 4:30pm with our response.

Lastly, if you are interested in the negotiations process and want to learn more or get involved, please call the office at (772) 233-5338 or send an email to martinteachers@gmail.com. We are looking for members to join our new Bargaining Organizing Action Team (BOAT), and everyone is invited to get on board. Your involvement is crucial to our success!