FORT WALTON BEACH — Teachers across the state will likely see a pay increase next summer if they are rated well during their evaluations.
The raises, which are the latest piece of the pay-for-performance model pushed by Florida lawmakers, were approved by the Legislature Sunday as part of a $480 million chunk of the state’s budget. Gov. Rick Scott has not yet signed the bill, but he released statements Sunday praising the lawmakers’ proposal.
Under the plan, teachers ranked as effective would receive a $2,500 pay increase and those ranked as highly effective would receive a $3,500 raise. Those ranked in one of the other two positions — developing/needs improvement or unsatisfactory — would not receive a raise.
Members of the Florida House and Senate reached this agreement several months after Scott put forth a budget that proposed a $2,500 across-the-board pay increase for all teachers.
Details beyond the fact that money has been set aside for merit raises are murky at best right now, according to local school officials.
“We’ve got a ways to go,” said Mary Hobbs, the chief financial officer for Walton County schools. “We’ve not been given anything final at all. The House and Senate just passed it.”
The biggest issue, at this point, is that the set of criteria for rating teachers doesn’t exist. Districts not only need to hash out with teachers’ unions what parts of student performance will be used to measure teacher effectiveness, but they will also need a green light from the Florida Department of Education.
In Okaloosa County, which has implemented an evaluation system based on student performance, Deputy Superintendent Kaye McKinley said they would have some work to do, but it likely wouldn’t change the high rate of high-performing teachers the district employs.
“It’s not about having all As,” McKinley said of the evaluation system. “It’s about having growth. It’s about having learning gains.”
While Okaloosa County might be able to predict the majority of its about 2,000 teachers would be ranked as highly effective, and thus receive a $3,500 bonus, Walton County officials were less certain about planning for the bonuses for about 600 teachers.
“It’s really got a stranglehold on our budget situation,” Hobbs said. “Because we just really don’t have any idea.”
The pay increase could also present additional problems down the road since pay raises are a permanent change in a teacher’s pay, not a one-time event like a bonus, Hobbs said.
McKinley also expressed concerns that it might negatively impact the large number of teachers in the area tied to the military who are forced to move often and might not be around to see the fruits of their labor.
Teachers are excited at the prospect of a pay increase, according to Greg Butler, the executive director of the Okaloosa County Education Association, but they have the same uncertainties as district officials.
“We’ll really be happy once we figure out what are the rules we have to follow to get there,” Butler said.
Districts were told they would receive the funding in June 2014, but it could still be several paychecks longer before teachers see the money.
“Right now, it’s just a wait-and-see kind of situation,” Hobbs said.
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Katie Tammen at 850-315-4440 or ktammen@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @KatieTnwfdn.