NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. – After weeks of negotiations, the Nassau Teachers Association (NTA) and the Nassau County School Board reached a tentative agreement for teacher salary increases on Monday night.
Negotiations had dragged on after disagreements about how salaries for veteran teachers would be increased.
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill in June with the goal of raising the minimum teacher salary to $47,500 and provide other raises at a cost of $500 million — $400 million to boost the minimum teacher salary and $100 million for other pay raises. The law allows the district to allocate 80% of the $2.1 million from to raise starting salaries and 20% to boost veteran teacher pay.
Under the new agreement in Nassau County, newer teachers would see salary increases up to $5,242, pushing starting salaries to $45,242, while minimum salary increases for veteran teachers will now be $1,522, more than twice the amount the school board offered in the previously failed proposal. Under the previous proposal, veteran teachers would earn as little as $715. The raise will cost the district about $650,000, according to NTA.
The vast majority of Nassau County School District teachers voted to reject the last proposed salary increase last month. Of the nearly 700 votes on the tentative agreement, about 84% of teachers voted against the agreement.
NTA negotiating teams are working together to prepare for a new ratification vote that is expected to take place next week.