HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — On Tuesday, the Hillsborough County School Board will vote on a contract for pay raises for staff at Transformation Network Schools.
This contract was negotiated by the Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association.
“Since the pandemic, the job of public educators and everything that they’re doing has become monumentally more difficult,” said HCTA president Rob Kriete.
If the contract is approved, eligible staff will receive the following pay increases:
- Teachers: $5,000
- Paraprofessionals: $750
- Assistant principals: $5,000
- Principals: $7,500
“Quite frankly, it’s not enough for all of our hardworking people to meet the needs of kids, but we want to make sure there is an attractive spot to teach and work as anywhere in our district. So we’re willing to enter into an agreement with the district,” said Kriete.
Those pay increases would affect staff at Transformation Network Schools, which are schools that require additional support staff to facilitate student growth and success. That includes lower-performing schools.
“We want to make sure that our highly effective teachers have an avenue to work with the kids that have the most needs,” said Kriete.
The group continues to push for more teacher funding.
“Here in Florida, we’re behind the curve in terms of compensation and making it a place to recruit and retain our best teachers. So we look for creative ways to make sure we’re staffing our schools. This is one of the ways that we work with the school district to kind of incentivize our teachers and support professionals to work in these schools,” said Kriete.
Also on the agenda, teachers district-wide could receive an extra payment of $2,500 and paraprofessionals could receive an additional payment of $375 if any schools are repurposed.
Tuesday’s school board meeting starts at 4 p.m.
