2026-2027 Negotiations
Back to School: I am. I can. I will. LCTA Training.
- OPEN TO ALL – Join Us!
For us to be successful, all sites need a strong member-led culture and organizing.
July 28, 2026: Safety and Security Building
- OPEN TO ALL – Join Us!
There are 6 total seats for LCTA on this committee. What you experience is decided here.
For your rights to be legally secured, our rights must be secured as well.
- LET’S ORGANIZE
Ask your colleagues to join today.
Last year, we shared a simple equation with our members and community:
Competitive Compensation
+ Balanced Workload
+ Respecting Educators
= A Stronger School Community
We also said:
The math is doable.
After reviewing two years of Florida Department of Education financial reports, we believe that message remains true.
The numbers do not guarantee a raise. They do not mean that every dollar can immediately be moved. But they do show that a meaningful, recurring salary increase is financially credible when compensation and Instruction are made clear budget priorities.
The question remains:
Can you build a career in Leon County Schools?
Can you support your family, grow professionally, manage the demands of the work, and trust that decisions affecting your salary and career will be made with transparency and integrity?
We believe the answer can—and should—be yes.
What LCTA Stands For
Competitive Compensation
We have provided compensation proposals designed to improve salaries and create a more sustainable career path for educators.
Salary is not the only issue we face, but educators cannot remain in a profession they cannot afford.
Balanced Workload
Compensation alone will not retain educators if the workload continues to grow without sufficient time, staffing, support, or professional autonomy.
We will continue addressing planning time, additional work, vacancies, ESE responsibilities, student discipline, class loads, and the daily conditions affecting your ability to serve students well.
Respecting Educators
Respect must be reflected in more than words.
It requires clear expectations, consistent procedures, fair investigations, just cause, transparency, professional voice, and the ability to trust that decisions affecting someone’s career will be made fairly.
Our compensation proposals and our requests for clear employee-investigation procedures are not attacks.
They are part of building a school district where skilled educators choose to stay.
Our Mission Is Bigger Than Bargaining
Senate Bill 1296 has made union membership even more consequential.
When membership falls below 60%, a union may be required to seek recertification. For certification and recertification petitions filed on or after July 1, 2026, at least 50% of the bargaining unit must participate in the election, and at least 50% of those participating must vote affirmatively for the union to remain certified.
You retain the legal right not to become a member. But nonmembership is no longer simply an individual decision. It can affect whether everyone continues to have an organization legally authorized to negotiate salaries, benefits, and working conditions.
Still, our mission is not tied only to a contract, certification, or bargaining right.
Supporting educators is the core of who we are.
We strongly encourage you to join LCTA.
No, the organization will not always be perfect. You will not always receive every outcome you want.
But by golly, our north star does not change.
We will operate with integrity. We will examine the facts, ask difficult questions, acknowledge where improvement is needed, and continue working for educators, students, families, and our community.
Membership is also part of our stewardship of the contract and collective voice that educators began building more than 50 years ago.
The Math Is Doable
We expect to hear a familiar response:
There is no money.
Public-school funding is complicated. The District faces state restrictions, rising costs, competing responsibilities, and legitimate financial pressures.
But financial pressure makes prioritization more important—not less important.
Leon’s own financial reports show that choices still exist.
What Leon Budgeted and What Leon Spent
According to Leon’s 2024–25 General Fund budget and Annual Financial Report:
- Instruction salaries finished approximately $5.09 million below budget.
- School Administration finished approximately $2.75 million above budget.
- School Administration salaries finished approximately $1.48 million above budget.
Total Instruction spending finished approximately $18.46 million below budget. However, much of that total difference involved materials and supplies, so it should not be described as money automatically available for salaries.
These figures do not prove wrongdoing.
They do not mean that every dollar can be moved.
They do show why the conversation cannot stop with “there is no money.”
We should understand:
- Why Instruction salaries finished below budget.
- Why School Administration exceeded its budget.
- Whether vacancies and turnover contributed to the difference.
- Whether recurring spending choices support the stated goal of attracting and retaining educators.
We have asked these questions, and we are awaiting the answers.
Leon Continues to Direct Less Toward Instruction
We also reviewed two years of FDOE General Fund data.
The balanced two-year comparison used the same six peer districts in both years: Alachua, Bay, Escambia, Hernando, Okaloosa, and Santa Rosa. Clay was also reviewed in the earlier-year analysis, but the trend figures below use only districts with consistently matched data in both years.
| Share of current General Fund spending directed to Instruction | Leon | Peer average | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023–24 | 58.91% | 61.12% | 2.20 points |
| 2024–25 | 58.08% | 60.87% | 2.79 points |
The difference widened.
At Leon’s 2024–25 spending level, the 2.79-percentage-point difference represents approximately:
$9.20 million
This does not mean $9.20 million is sitting in an unrestricted account.
It is an allocation benchmark.
It shows how much more would have been directed toward Instruction if Leon had allocated the same percentage as the comparable-district average.
We also tested the most likely explanations:
- When materials and supplies were removed from every district, Leon remained below the peer average.
- When only Instruction salaries and employee benefits were compared, Leon remained below the peer average.
- Leon’s Instruction purchased-services share was already slightly higher than the peer average, weakening the argument that outsourcing alone explains the difference.
FDOE explains that AFRs are district-submitted, unaudited reports that organize expenditures by function—the purpose of the spending—and object—what was purchased.
This comparison is not designed to assign blame.
It is a pattern that deserves reflection, explanation, and action.
Other Florida districts operating within the same state funding system have made different choices. That gives us reason for optimism.
Leon can examine those choices, learn from them, and determine what can responsibly be done here.
What Could This Mean for Your Salary?
The analysis does not guarantee a particular raise.
It does show that a recurring salary increase deserves serious consideration.
Using Leon’s reported Instruction salary base and estimating associated benefit costs at approximately 23%:
| Recurring salary increase | Estimated cost with benefits |
|---|---|
| 2% | Approximately $2.76 million |
| 3% | Approximately $4.14 million |
| 5% | Approximately $6.91 million |
Each amount is below the approximately $9.20 million peer-allocation benchmark.
That does not mean we should simply declare that the District has enough unrestricted money for a 5% raise.
Some expenditures may be restricted. Some services are necessary. Some differences may have reasonable explanations.
But the numbers provide a strong basis to say:
A meaningful recurring salary increase is possible if compensation and Instruction are made clear budget priorities.
A 3% recurring increase would cost approximately $4.14 million with estimated benefits—less than half of the identified allocation benchmark.
Even if the District explains a substantial portion of the difference through unique programs, restrictions, or operational obligations, the remaining scale supports a serious conversation about recurring salary improvement.
Therefore, “there is no money” cannot be the final answer.
The District should explain:
- What accounts for Leon’s lower Instruction share.
- Which expenditures are restricted or unavoidable.
- How much could responsibly be realigned.
- What plan exists to move Leon closer to comparable districts.
- How compensation will become a recurring priority rather than an occasional conversation.
A Stronger School Community Requires Our Participation
The Superintendent recommends priorities and administers the District.
The School Board adopts the budget, approves agreements, establishes policy, and provides public oversight.
These individuals hold the keys to decisions affecting our careers, families, students, and schools.
If we are not engaged in conversations with them—if we are not organized and sharing our concerns, evidence, and solutions—then we are not living what we preach.
Advocacy is not hostility.
Accountability is not blame.
Participation is how improvement happens.
What Will You Do?
We are asking you to take three steps:
- Review the LCTA compensation proposals.
- Join LCTA if you have not already done so.
- Attend Tuesday’s bargaining session and School Board meeting.
LCTA Bargaining Session
Tuesday, July 28, 2026
11:00 a.m.
Safety and Security Building
2757 West Pensacola Street
Leon County School Board Meeting and Budget Hearing
Tuesday, July 28, 2026
6:00 p.m.
Aquilina C. Howell Instructional Services Center
3955 West Pensacola Street
Leon County Schools has publicly noticed the July 28 budget hearing for 6:00 p.m. at the Howell Center.
You do not have to speak.
You do not have to agree with every decision LCTA makes.
Your presence communicates that competitive compensation, balanced workloads, respect for educators, transparency, and the future of public education matter to you.
This is not about remaining stuck in the past.
It is about keeping our eyes on the infinite mission: a better life for our children, families, and community.
We believe Leon County Schools can be a place where educators build lasting careers.
We believe trust can be strengthened.
We believe priorities can be better aligned.
And we believe that when educators organize, participate, and lead with integrity, the future remains full of possibility.
Competitive Compensation
+ Balanced Workload
+ Respecting Educators
= A Stronger School Community
The math is doable.
What do you stand for?
What will you do?
#beLCTA
Shared Facts. Shared Work. Shared Responsibility.
In solidarity,
Leon Classroom Teachers Association
