Amid teacher shortage, ‘culture wars’ and living costs, Miami-Dade teachers to get pay hike
Miami-Dade County Public Schools teachers will likely receive pay raises ranging from 7% to 10% this coming school year, and starting teachers will likely make about $3,000 more than they did last year.
That’s according to the most recent tentative agreement reached between the Miami-Dade County school district, the largest employer in the county, and United Teachers of Dade, the union that represents about 43,000 district employees. If the union members approve the contract next month, the numbers will become official.
The compensation hikes come largely from a $400-million referendum that voters soundly approved in 2022 to pay public teachers more.
UTD President Karla Hernández-Mats stressed the need for higher salaries at a press conference Thursday afternoon, pointing to a widespread teacher shortage.
“The state of Florida has caused a self-inflicted wound — there are culture wars, there are book bans, there is censoring of teachers, all of these things have caused a self-inflicted wound where now people do not want to be a part of this profession — so we have to do something about that,” she said.
“We’re trying to not only recruit but also retain the best in the business,” she added.
The raise percentage each teacher gets will vary, depending on whether the teacher is on the grandfathered pay schedule or the performance pay schedule.
Incoming teachers made $48,524 last year without the referendum money and $49,492 with the referendum money. This year, their base salary without the referendum could increase to $49,500 and to $52,470 with the referendum funds.
Each year, the school district and UTD negotiate the employees’ working conditions. This year, they reopened their ongoing 2023-26 contract, and will likely do so again at the end of the school year to negotiate conditions for the 2024-25 school year.
This year, after nine sessions since April, they finished negotiating late Wednesday evening.
UTD represents about 17,000 teachers and 26,000 other staffers like paraprofessionals, campus monitors and instructional staff. The union members will vote in person at school sites on Wednesday, Aug. 16, whether to ratify the contract. The new school year begins Thursday, Aug. 17.
In order for the contract to pass, UTD needs a simple majority, or one vote more than 50%. If it passes, the Miami-Dade School Board would have to sign the agreement.
Some of the tentative agreement’s highlights include:
▪ Teachers, including counselors, school workers and school psychologists, would get pay increases ranging from 7% to 10%
▪ Education support professionals, including clerical workers, paraprofessionals and school security monitors, would get pay increases ranging from 4% to 6%
▪ Anyone with advanced degrees like master degree’s and doctorates will get 10% increases to their supplemental pay
▪ Higher supplemental pay for extracurricular activities, like coaching
▪ 12-month employees who have worked more than three years will get an additional vacation day during the year
▪ Provide a better mechanism for school employees to report the misconduct of administrators
▪ Maintain a free healthcare option for full-time employees
▪ Ensure the children of UTD members get first dibs in the district magnet/choice programs
