Brevard Schools superintendent proposes $1,100 'final offer' for teacher raises

Teachers union still asking school board to approve $2,300 raise

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – In his final offer to end a several monthslong contract impasse, Brevard County Schools Superintendent Mark Mullins proposed an $1,100 salary increase and a more than $600 bonus for teachers with a highly effective rating.
          
Mullins addressed the media Monday morning at the Brevard County School Board Building in Viera.

"I've come up with what I believe is a healthy solution to the impasse," he said.

During his statement, the superintendent mentioned teacher morale.

The Brevard Federation of Teachers responded that morale is horrible and the superintendent's proposal does not fix things.

"I am greatly disappointed," union president Anthony Colucci said.

The union is still hoping the school board next week will vote to accept a magistrate's recommendation for the county's best teachers.

Mullins is now asking the board to accept his proposal.

He said it would be the highest compensation Brevard teachers have received in the last three years, but the union said that's still more than $1,000 shy of what the magistrate not only recommended but also said the district could afford.

"I agree with the proposal of providing that compensation to our teachers, but I have to weigh what we want to do, against what we can do and be fiscally responsible," Mullins said.

Mullins' announcement comes after Brevard County students led a demonstration to express their support for a plan to raise teacher pay by $2,300.

The $2,300 plan, endorsed by an impartial special magistrate in May, was rejected by Mullins this month, sparking the student protest.

In previous months, teachers held more than a half-dozen rallies on the issue.

Colucci called Mullins' proposal a "minuscule pay raise."

"Morale is horrible. Not a day goes by where I don't get a call from a teacher saying: 'I've had it. I'm leaving Brevard County. This isn't worth it to go through year after year,'" Colucci said.

The school board must make a final decision to end the impasse at its meeting on June 24.


About the Author:

James joined News 6 in March 2016 as the Brevard County Reporter. His arrival was the realization of a three-year effort to return to the state where his career began. James is from Pittsburgh, PA and graduated from Penn State in 2009 with a degree in Broadcast Journalism.

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