PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Palm Beach County public school teachers will soon get a pay raise.
School board members on Wednesday unanimously approved a collective bargaining agreement to give all School District of Palm Beach County teachers, including permanent substitute teachers, up to a 3.5% pay increase per year, depending on their effectiveness rating.
The raises will be retroactive to July 1, 2021.
"I know how committed the board is to providing the best salaries possible for all of our employees, and we worked hard to get there," Superintendent Mike Burke said.
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In addition, all school district teachers will receive a one-time $1,500 bonus under the deal. That money will come from COVID-19 relief funding the district received from the federal government.
Teachers working in Title I schools, F-rated schools, Triple-D-rated schools, as well as instructional personnel in the "critical shortage areas" of elementary education, science, language arts, reading, ESE, ESOL, mathematics, and foreign languages will receive a $100 bonus per school year.
The total cost of the raises and bonuses will be $49.7 million.
The agreement still needs to be approved by the Palm Beach County Classroom Teachers Association before it becomes final.