Teachers in Osceola County are fed up because it looks like they won’t get a raise this year.
“We know what’s going to happen. At the beginning of the year they tell us how poor they are and we don’t know where we are going to get the money from,” Osceola County teacher Lare Allen said.
It’s the same story teachers said they’ve heard for years from Osceola County that pay raises just aren’t in the budget. Over the last two years they’ve seen small raises at about 1-3 percent. However, this year things are different and the school district said teachers won’t see any kind of raise.
“We believe that all our employees deserve a raise, but we just are at a point where we can’t afford a raise this year,” said John Boyd with the Osceola County School District.
Right now, the School District faces a $5.1 million deficit and they will have to pull from their rainy day fund to pay for it.
Teachers want the school board to pull from the remaining $65.1 million rainy day fund to help pay for the raise they say they are due.
“We are not being paid for the effort that we are putting in. If you want quality education and want to attract quality teachers, one of the things that attracts them is salary,” Allen said.
The teachers union representative said that without a significant raise, or any at all, many teachers may leave the area for school districts that pay better. They are hopeful that the school district will reconsider their decision.
The school district said there just isn’t any money, and the millions they have in their rainy day fund are for emergencies.
“We are all hoping and praying that the economy continues to improve so that next year the conversation will be completely different and we can afford a raise,” Boyd said.
Right now the School District and the Teachers Union are still negotiating. If they don’t come up with a resolution soon, this could go to arbitration and a mediator will decide if the School Board needs to pay. Both sides told us they hope it doesn’t come to that.