A group of red shirt-clad teachers spoke out during Tuesday’s School Board meeting, requesting an 8.7% cost of living adjustment after circulating a petition throughout the community.
The petition, “Cost of Living Adjustment for SDOC Teachers!”, has more than 3,000 signatures and, according to Emily Gorentz, the instructional vice president for the Osceola County Education Association, the support of several school board members and candidates.
In her comments, Gorentz asked that the board work with the OCEA as a team on the issue. “We’ve supported students through a pandemic, a hurricane and so many other trials and tribulations, now we ask for the same support from our leaders – a true show of unity and to show we are all fighting on the same side,” she said.
OCEA members and supporters made up the majority of the public comment portion of the meeting, many explaining that, while they love their jobs, the low salaries make it difficult to pay their bills and support their families.
“I love what I do. I love being a teacher for this district,” Devin Thornton, a teacher at Kissimmee Elementary said. “Every teacher I have met since I joined this district works hard for our students, tirelessly day in and day out. We don’t stop working when the bell rings in the afternoon. We should not have to worry about putting food on the table, gas in our cars, and paying our rent and mortgages,” he added.
Andrew Spar, the president of the Florida Education Association, implored the board to consider the teacher shortage when looking into this issue.
“There’s a way to find funding in the budget to increase pay for teachers and staff and it needs to be done because the number one reason teachers and staff cite for leaving the profession today is the low pay,” he said. Spar also mentioned the additional funds remaining in the budget at the end of the year and pointed out that they could be used for these teacher raises.
Board Member Jon Arguello was the only board member to respond to the teachers, explaining that in a perfect world, teachers would be making a competitive salary to other professions.
"This isn’t about inflation, in my opinion,” he said. “This is about removing simple obstacles to the progress of education, rewriting the model of education, reprioritizing the magic, which is what happens in the classroom.”
Due to the upcoming election and installation of new board members, the board opted to discuss this issue further during an executive session, tentatively scheduled for Dec. 6 at 5 p.m.
