{"id":529,"date":"2026-05-13T18:11:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T18:11:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=529"},"modified":"2026-05-13T18:11:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T18:11:07","slug":"orange-school-board-union-clash-over-using-tax-money-for-teacher-raises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=529","title":{"rendered":"Orange school board, union clash over using tax money for teacher raises"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

The Orange County School Board clashed with the district\u2019s teachers union Tuesday evening over a proposed addition to the special schools tax it again wants voters to approve.<\/p>\n

Read more Disney: \u2018Bluey\u2019 area details include Jumping Junction, virtual queue<\/a><\/p>\n

The union urged the board to add \u201cincreasing teacher pay\u201d to the language of its tax referendum, which brings in about $230 million annually to help pay for teacher salaries, academic and athletic programs and field trips.<\/p>\n

But most board members were not receptive, saying the language wouldn\u2019t change the amount of money available for teacher raises, which is dependent on state funding, and they didn\u2019t want to take any action without the superintendent and board\u2019s chair, who were both absent.<\/p>\n

The board\u2019s failure to embrace adding the language was met with disapproval and jeers from the\u00a0union members in attendance.<\/p>\n

The school board will meet again on May 19 to discuss the language of the special tax referendum, which the board wants to appear on the November ballot.<\/p>\n

Orange County voters have overwhelmingly approved the referendum every four years since it was first on the ballot in 2010.<\/p>\n

If they vote for it again, Orange County Public Schools expects to collect about $261 million each year for the next four years from the one-mill tax, according to the ballot language, which represents a $1 tax on every $1,000 of assessed property value.<\/p>\n

School officials say continuing the tax is crucial as the districts deals with significant enrollment declines and a subsequent loss of per-pupil state funding.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Clinton McCracken, president of the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association, urged the board to follow other Florida school districts and explicitly state in its referendum that the tax money would go funds go toward increasing teacher pay. Earlier this month, for example, Lake County approved putting a one-mill tax on November\u2019s ballot that included language to \u201cincrease teacher pay.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMorale is declining because educators feel like they are constantly being told why something can\u2019t be done instead of hearing solutions for how it can. At some point, this stops sounding like financial impossibility and starts sounding like institutional stubbornness,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Read more Orlando\u2019s \u2018Uncle Lou\u2019 accused of selling liquor without a license, detained on immigration hold<\/a><\/p>\n

But Vice Chair Maria Salamanca, who presided over the meeting, said adding the language would only be \u201csymbolic\u201d and using more referendum funds to boost teacher pay could end up hurting other district programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the world where we don\u2019t get money to increase teacher compensation, the bucket is still the same. Which means we will have to cut support staff, arts, athletics and student activities. That\u2019s kind of how the math works,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

The tax currently helps pay for salaries, with about 45% of the money collected currently spent to \u201cpreserve academic programs and retain highly qualified teachers,\u201d the district said.<\/p>\n

Board member Alicia Farrant said she wanted to keep the language the same when it goes on the ballot this year, adding that the district doesn\u2019t need to add words to \u201cmake it look cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough it looks nice on paper, I think it will make it look like, and make our current teachers believe, that they would have a crazy increase next year,\u201d Farrant said.<\/p>\n

Facing a budget shortfall, the district has proposed raises of less than 1% for teachers for next school year. Combined with much higher health insurance costs and ongoing inflation, many of the district\u2019s 13,000 teachers could effectively see a pay cut next year, McCracken said.<\/p>\n

Board member Angie Gallo said she supported the union\u2019s proposed language, adding that the board needs to make \u201chard decisions\u201d about its priorities because teachers are struggling to live on the wages they make.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy heart is literally breaking for them, because I don\u2019t know how they can afford it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Read more More showers and possible lightning storms in the afternoon<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Orange school board, teachers union clash over whether special tax money, which voters will be asked to approve again in November, should go to teacher raises.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":528,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nOrange school board, union clash over using tax money for teacher raises - Orlando Relocation Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=529\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Orange school board, union clash over using tax money for teacher raises - Orlando Relocation Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Orange school board, teachers union clash over whether special tax money, which voters will be asked to approve again in November, should go to teacher raises.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=529\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Orlando Relocation Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-13T18:11:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=529#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=529\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/47d95744296542489ff5c4bd403450f8\"},\"headline\":\"Orange school board, union clash over using tax money for teacher raises\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-13T18:11:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=529\"},\"wordCount\":667,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=529#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/775dbe3f57884a7ce6fedf9941cca006.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Education\",\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=529#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=529\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=529\",\"name\":\"Orange school board, union clash over using tax money for teacher raises - Orlando Relocation Report\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=529#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=529#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/775dbe3f57884a7ce6fedf9941cca006.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-13T18:11:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/47d95744296542489ff5c4bd403450f8\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=529#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=529\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=529#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/775dbe3f57884a7ce6fedf9941cca006.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/775dbe3f57884a7ce6fedf9941cca006.webp\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":682},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=529#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Orange school board, union clash over using tax money for teacher raises\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Orlando Relocation Report\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/47d95744296542489ff5c4bd403450f8\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Orange school board, union clash over using tax money for teacher raises - Orlando Relocation Report","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=529","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Orange school board, union clash over using tax money for teacher raises - Orlando Relocation Report","og_description":"Orange school board, teachers union clash over whether special tax money, which voters will be asked to approve again in November, should go to teacher raises.","og_url":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=529","og_site_name":"Orlando Relocation Report","article_published_time":"2026-05-13T18:11:07+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=529#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=529"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/47d95744296542489ff5c4bd403450f8"},"headline":"Orange school board, union clash over using tax money for teacher raises","datePublished":"2026-05-13T18:11:07+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=529"},"wordCount":667,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=529#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/775dbe3f57884a7ce6fedf9941cca006.webp","articleSection":["Education","News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=529#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=529","url":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=529","name":"Orange school board, union clash over using tax money for teacher raises - Orlando Relocation Report","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=529#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=529#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/775dbe3f57884a7ce6fedf9941cca006.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-13T18:11:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/47d95744296542489ff5c4bd403450f8"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=529#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=529"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=529#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/775dbe3f57884a7ce6fedf9941cca006.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/775dbe3f57884a7ce6fedf9941cca006.webp","width":1024,"height":682},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=529#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Orange school board, union clash over using tax money for teacher raises"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/","name":"Orlando Relocation Report","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/47d95744296542489ff5c4bd403450f8","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com"],"url":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=529"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}