The Broward County school board Tuesday voted down paying teachers $100,000 in total compensation by 2025.
The idea came from board member Allen Zeman, who also proposed raising principals' total compensation to $150,000.
“What is being proposed here if we continue this to get to the $100,000 in total compensation would be a 31% raise over five years, some of which is referendum dollars, and we have to be very clear about the sustainability of that money," Zeman said in the special meeting before the vote. "I don’t think in a million years we’re gonna find $300 million to replace the money we get from the referendum, so if the vote goes away, there would be, in four years, a cliff."
The board voted down the proposal 5-4.
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Superintendent Peter Licata affirmed his support for the proposal in principle but expressed concerns about the sustainability of the funding source for the increased compensation.
“I believe we can do this, and with the referendum money coming in this year and with those incrementals, this is something we’re gonna look forward to," Licata said. "This is gonna be huge for Broward, we just gotta make sure we do it in a deliberate fashion to make sure we’re not removing services, and that worries me, too.”
Currently, the average total compensation — which means salary, retirement, and health insurance benefits combined — is $88,000. Raising it to $100,000 would have made Broward County Public Schools the leader in teacher compensation in the entire southeast United States.
