Leon County School officials are pushing back after Florida’s new commissioner of education called out the local teachers’ union and Leon’s superintendent for a delay in paying teacher raises last year.
During a recent State Board of Education meeting, Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas blasted Leon and 15 other districts he says withheld state-allocated teacher raises. In Leon, he says, that delay lasted for months.
“Through unnecessary and prolonged negotiations, these unions have delayed hard-earned dollars from reaching our teachers," Kamoutsas said.
Besides pointing fingers at the union, Kamoutsas singled out Leon Superintendent Rocky Hanna.
“This is totally unacceptable," Kamoutsas said. "The teachers’ union in Leon County, as well as the superintendent, Rocky Hanna, should be ashamed of themselves.”
But Leon County officials contend the teachers had agreed to the delay, pointing out that they’ve since received back pay.
“I mean, we want the money in the hands of our teachers as soon as possible,” said Scott Mazur, president of the Leon County Classroom Teachers Association.
Mazur says the delay came because the union wanted to negotiate a better contract and higher raises for Leon teachers.
He says the real issue is how much the Florida legislature has allocated for public school teachers – who he says rank 50th of all 50 states in teacher pay.
“If you look at the money that has been allocated from 2020, in all of their press clippings they add up the 5 years of funding to say, ‘Look what we’ve done for teachers,’" Mazur said. "But you’re talking about raises that have already occurred, and many of those raises are below what the unions have negotiated above that.”
Hanna, meanwhile, calls the commissioner’s censure of Leon and the Leon teacher’s union “ridiculous.” It’s not the first time the superintendent has been the focus of the state government’s criticisms.
In the past, the state Department of Education has clashed with Hanna and investigated him, saying his personal views have affected his role as superintendent. He’s called the investigation “meritless” and hasn’t hesitated to push back.
This year DOE sanctioned Hanna, prompting an outpouring of local support for him.
“I would say I was surprised but I’m really not," he said. "It’s kind of our new normal. That we have leaders in state government at the highest of levels who are young, immature and – based on their ego – feel like they just need to bully people.”
Hanna and Mazur say negotiations for raises are business as usual for the district and the union. In fact, they say they’re in the midst of such talks right now for this school year.
