Districts miss deadline on Florida teacher pay plans
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - After Florida lawmakers set aside $800 million this year to help raise educators’ salaries, 41 school districts have not submitted plans to distribute the money, according to the state Department of Education.
Districts faced an Oct. 1 deadline to submit plans that also were required to address raising salaries for charter-school teachers. As of Thursday, 19 districts had completed their plans, with teachers either getting paid or scheduled to have their pay raised.
An additional 27 districts had not submitted plans but "have been in communication with FDOE (the Florida Department of Education) regarding negotiations" or a timeline for plans to be completed, according to a report provided Thursday to the State Board of Education.
Another 14 districts had not submitted plans or been in contact with the department. Among those are districts in the Central Florida counties of Flagler and Lake. The others are in Citrus, Collier, DeSoto, Glades, Jefferson, Nassau, Gulf, Lee, St. Lucie, and Gadsden counties, along with the Florida Atlantic University and Florida State University lab schools, which function as their own districts.
Meanwhile, nine school districts have submitted plans that are under review, and the Hillsborough County school district is at an impasse in negotiations over distributing money. This year’s state budget included money to continue an effort to pay teachers a minimum salary of $47,500.