ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — The pay raise negotiations for teachers in St. John’s County will continue.
This comes after a session was held Thursday for district leaders and the union to come to an agreement on salaries.
It’s back to the drawing board until after legislative session, which is Dec. 13.
“Yeah we get a pat on the back and that’s a part of the profession and we all understand that but it’s time,” said Rick Ryan, St. John’s County teacher.
It’s time for teachers to get more money according to Ryan, who has been teaching for St. John’s County Schools for 26 years.
He says lately he’s seen the most teacher vacancies in all of his years as a teacher.
One after the other, teachers came forward expressing concerns at Thursday night’s meeting held at the St. John’s County School District building.
District leaders feel if teachers get a raise the money has to come from somewhere and the union says re-budget the funds.
There were pauses in the meeting for district leaders to talk about the proposed pay increase.
The first proposal for teacher pay was for new teachers to make $48,000 starting out and veteran teachers to get a $945 pay increase a year.
Roughly, 70% of teachers with the union voted no in a previous meeting.
Now, negotiations are continuing.
“When we go home, and we look at our balance books and our check books, we’re losing money and that’s all we want them to know, and we want to work together, we don’t want animosity, and we don’t want to have a fight because we need them to think about their priorities in terms of budgeting,” said Tom Diab.
On Thursday, district leaders and the union couldn’t agree.
If the disagreements continue, a magistrate will rule on a decision in which the district leaders will have the final say.