Orange County School Board members approved Tuesday, July 28, the tentative budget for Fiscal Year 2026-2027.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If the final budget is approved in September, teachers across Orange County Public Schools will face increases to their insurance premiums and deductibles.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Orange County Classroom Teachers Association has been bargaining with OCPS regarding salaries and health insurance costs. After failed negotiation attempts, an impasse was reached in April.\u00a0<\/p>\n
OCPS has agreed to OCCTA\u2019s proposal of a permanent base-salary adjustment to instructional personnel who have been employed for 10 years or more. With this adjustment, teachers employed with OCPS for 10 to 14 years will receive an additional $1,925 to their base salaries. Teachers employed with OCPS for 15 to 19 years will receive a $2,025 adjustment to their salaries. For 20- to 24-year instructors, an additional $2,200 will be added to their base salaries. Teachers employed for 25 to 29 years will receive $2,500, and teachers employed for 30 to 31 years will receive $2,800. All teachers who have been with OCPS for 32 years or longer will receive a base-salary adjustment of $3,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, OCCTA still is bargaining for a 3% raise for effective teachers and a 4% raise for highly effective ones who have been with OCPS for fewer than 10 years, rather than accepting OCPS\u2019 proposal of 2.65% for highly-effective teachers and 1.98% for effective teachers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For teachers who do not qualify for any increases under district proposals, OCCTA is asking for a 2% cost-of-living adjustment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTeachers are struggling to remain in the profession that they love,\u201d OCCTA President Clinton McCracken said during the public hearing Tuesday, July 28. \u201cThe cost of living in Central Florida continues to rise, while educators\u2019 take-home pay simply doesn\u2019t keep pace. Many are wondering how much longer they can afford to stay. Yet, they continue showing up every day for Orange County students. \u2026 They deserve a district that shows up for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
McCracken said while Tallahassee must do better in funding school districts, School Board members also have the power to make local decisions, and their choices reveal their priorities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll keep fighting for the compensation, respect and working conditions (teachers) deserve,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I\u2019ll keep holding this district accountable for the choices that it makes. You can\u2019t call educators essential and then budget as if they\u2019re expendable.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
While base-rate adjustments have been made, affordable health care remains a topic of concern.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Under the district\u2019s hybrid insurance proposal, OCPS teachers\u2019 deductibles would increase from $400 to $3,000. For a family, it would increase from $800 to $6,000.<\/p>\n
In total, including premium and deductibles, it would cost around $22,988 for a family to be insured under OCPS\u2019 hybrid plan, OCCTA officials said.<\/p>\n
While OCPS\u2019 employee-only zero-cost premium health care plan remains unchanged, premiums for dependent coverage will increase, along with deductibles for both employee-only and family plans.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite these challenges, the district remains committed to offering competitive salaries and affordable access to high-quality healthcare for employees and their dependents,\u201d OCPS officials said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even with salary increases, the higher health care costs would result in lower take-home pay, making teachers have to choose between medical care, paying for groceries or bills, McCracken said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At the board meeting, various teachers shared personal stories on how health insurance costs would impact their lives.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cReading through the health insurance proposal for the first time, I felt like I need to make a decision between starting a family and remaining in this career,\u201d teacher Rebecca Roy said. \u201cWe\u2019re already up against so much like the time and energy commitment, Florida\u2019s famously low teacher salary and our short three-week maternity leave. These felt like difficult obstacles, but this year\u2019s proposed added cost to teachers makes this feel insurmountable. I simply cannot make the numbers work.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She said it feels as if OCPS is asking her to make a huge sacrifice, either a financial one or a personal one.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Roy urged board members to take teachers into consideration because they are the ones who make OCPS great.\u00a0<\/p>\n
OCPS School Board Chair Teresa Jacobs said she wishes there was more the board could do.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m looking at other school districts: they\u2019re not paying more; their insurance isn\u2019t better,\u201d she said. \u201cIf we improve the health care and we spend more money on the health care out of district funds, that comes from the same pot that we pay salaries.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jacobs said the board simply cannot lower insurance costs and raise salaries at the same time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s just not the money there,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Over the past five years, OCPS has spent nearly $264 million to subsidize insurance premiums, but that no longer is sustainable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
School Board member Angie Gallo said the board is continuing to look at options and where there might be more money to give directly to teachers and educational support staff.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that this is difficult, but I don\u2019t want you guys to leave here hopeless and think that we\u2019re just a bunch of bobbleheads up here not caring and not doing everything we can to try to find your money, because that simply isn\u2019t true,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s just not. \u2026 We are at an impasse. We haven\u2019t finished negotiations with the union. A lot still has to be discussed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She assured the passage of the tentative budget and approval for the final budget hearing to be held Tuesday, Sept. 8, does not mean the board does not care.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve committed that every dollar that we can find, every dime that we can find, it\u2019s going to you all,\u201d Gallo said to teachers. \u201cWhat that looks like right now, I don\u2019t know, but I promise you we\u2019re trying. We\u2019re making really hard cuts to try to find the money, and I\u2019m committed to continue to do that for you all.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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