Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) and the Broward Teacher's Union (BTU) reached an agreement to award additional compensation to teachers at each of the District's Priority and Focus or Differentiated Accountability (DA) schools as defined by the Florida Department of Education (all schools with a school grade of D, DD, DDD, and F).
The agreement culminates six consecutive months of negotiations between both parties. One of the main priorities was to ensure that the most qualified and experienced teachers could be compensated for achieving student growth at each of the DA schools. The agreement will remain in effect for two years through the end of the 2013-14 school year. Additional compensation will be provided based upon various criteria, such as student performance, teacher ratings, and transfer eligibility into one of these schools. Funding sources to reward teachers for this additional compensation span across several grants awarded to the District, such as Race to the Top (RTTT); Teacher Improvement Fund (TIF); and School Improvement Grant (SIG) funds.
The agreement represents a milestone of collaboration between representatives from the District and the BTU, and comes less than a year after reaching an agreement to provide salary increases to teachers after four consecutive years of no salary increases.
"I am pleased that the District and Union were able to work together to reach this agreement," BTU President Sharon Glickman said. "This agreement is an important step forward in the relationship between the District and the Union that benefits our members who work in state designated priority schools and our students."
BCPS is among a few school districts in Florida to have reached an agreement with the Teachers Union to award performance pay to qualified teachers at each of the District's priority schools.
"This agreement represents our continued commitment to ensure that qualified teachers are attracted to our priority schools and it establishes compensation for teachers who demonstrate increased student growth at these schools", said Superintendent Robert W. Runcie. "Work is currently underway by staff to jointly establish a District-wide performance compensation structure, so all of our teachers can be eligible for incentive pay very soon."
Watch the from Superintendent Runcie and President Glickman at www.browardschools.com.
Questions regarding this agreement can be directed to Lerenzo Calhoun, Employee Relations Specialist at the Employee Relations Department at 754-321-2140 (or via internal email to the Employee Relations CAB Conference) or to LaFrances Trotter and Kalebra Williams at the Broward Teachers Union at 954-486-6250.
Differentiated Accountability (DA) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
Information Points
For the 2012-13 school year, 16 schools were classified by the State as Differentiated Accountability Priority and Focus Schools ("DA Schools") - those schools earning a D, DD, DDD, or an F overall school grade for the 2011-12 school year.
(Arthur Ashe Jr. Middle; Lauderhill Middle; Silver Lakes Middle; Broward Estates Elementary; Cypress Elementary; Deerfield Park Elementary; Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary; Lauderdale Manors Elementary; Morrow Elementary; Park Lakes Elementary; Pompano Beach Elementary; Rock Island Elementary; Royal Palm Elementary; Sunland Park Elementary; Tedder Elementary; Westwood Heights Elementary)
December 4, 2012 - BCPS and the BTU commenced bargaining over terms and conditions to pay teachers for performance at each DA School.
April 12, 2013 - BCPS and the BTU reached an agreement regarding the terms and conditions to pay teachers for performance at DA Schools.
Highlights of the Agreement
• More than 700 teachers across the 16 schools are eligible for performance pay.
• Eligible teachers can earn a differentiated pay bonus of $2000 for effective/highly effective teachers, and a performance bonus for highly effective teachers.
• Provisions also include eligibility to transfer into and out of the schools.
• Funding for the bonuses will be paid from various grants awarded to BCPS, such as Race to the Top (RTTT) funds; Teacher Incentive Funds (TIF), and School
Improvement Grant (SIG) funds.
• The agreement will remain in effect for the duration of the 2012-13 school year and the terms will require renewal at the end of the 2013-14 school year. (The list of "DA Schools" is subject to change pending assessment by the Florida
Department of Education.)
