ACPS pauses step increases for teachers after AG says they may violate a 2011 statute
BY JENNIFER CABRERA
Updated at 2 p.m. with comment from the ACEA.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Alachua County Public Schools teachers learned yesterday that their step increases for 2026-27 have been “paused” because the Attorney General issued an opinion stating that step increases may only be awarded to teachers who are rated effective or highly effective.
According to the opinion from General Counsel Greg Slemp in the Florida Attorney General’s Office, ACPS Superintendent Kamela Patton requested the opinion on June 18, asking two questions:
- Are annual step increases considered to be “adjustments” under Florida statutes?
- May these pay adjustements be awarded to employees who are not rated highly effective or effective?
Step increases are automatic annual increases for teachers, and the opinion, dated June 30, holds that step increases are “adjustments” under the 2011 Student Success Act.
The opinion notes that Florida statutes provide for a grandfathered salary schedule for employees hired before July 1, 2014, and a performance salary schedule for all employees hired on or after July 1, 2014, plus some others who do not qualify for the grandfathered salary schedule. Slemp wrote, “The performance salary schedule provides for salary adjustments based on performance.”
Slemp adds, “[Florida Statutes] Section 1012.22 prohibits a school district from providing an annual salary adjustment for employees who are not rated highly effective or effective in the evaluation system. The statute provides expressly that ‘[a] salary schedule shall not provide an annual salary adjustment for an employee who receives a rating other than highly effective or effective for the year.'”
Slemp concludes that “the unambiguous text” of the statute “prohibits the ACPS from providing pay adjustments to employees who are not rated highly effective or effective in the evaluation system,” and “an employee who did not receive an effective or highly effective rating may not receive an annual step increase in pay.”
The email sent to ACPS staff states, “We are reviewing this opinion with legal counsel and will consult with the Alachua County Education Association to evaluate its impact moving forward. As a result, we are pausing payment of the applicable step increase until this review is completed [emphasis added]. Note this pause will not affect step increases for Education Support Professionals. This class of employees will receive their step increase as scheduled.”
Alachua County Education Association President Crystal Tessman Hall told Alachua Chronicle, “ACEA has already begun consulting with the Florida Education Association legal department, and we will work through this in every capacity we can allowed by law to provide our teachers with the respect and wages they deserve.”
Where is your coverage of the Frazer School? The Chronicle is unending in its seemingly daily criticisms of the ACPS. Meanwhile, there’s a total s-show going on with Frazer School, alleged financial mismanagement, and now a lawsuit and pending eviction by Newberry Christian. But if you read the Chronicle, all I ever see are flowery Frazer School press releases on how great everything is over there, without even offering a comment box for readers to add valuable context. You obviously have it in for the ACPS, but try scaling back on the gatekeeping….
What a poor attempt at misdirection. If a private school can’t make it work then just let them fail…end of story.
Why are you incapable of addressing the major ongoing issues at our local government schools? These articles are loaded with data and facts and all you do is bring in divisive politics and straw man arguments.
You need to start addressing the problems and stop being a political and bureaucratic hack.
You must have missed those articles because there have been a few. .. first one telling the readers what had happened then another one talking about the solution or solutions the proposed and enacted.
Only effective and highly effective teachers should ever be given step increases—though this does underline a certain philosophy of giving rewards for underperformance, and it reflects the lessening of societal standards as a whole. Or is it instead the acceptance of sub-par performance? If the latter, is it because some are afraid of the PC culture being bred into today’s society?
Before the union decides to chime in about step increases being needed to retain teachers—do we really want sub-par teachers educating our children? Would you want a sub-par surgeon performing surgery on you? A sub-par pilot flying you through poor weather or mountainous terrain?
One would think it would be an elementary-level answer that would be correct.
Only one commenter mentions the wolf dressed as a sheep here. First, why do we have teachers rated as less than effective on staff? Second, why are we trying to give them raises? Simple questions. I wonder how ACSB would give simple answers to them.
Can someone describe what determines teacher effectiveness, what metrics are used? Who has a say in the process? Are other government employees held to similar metrics or standards?
It appears to me that this is part of an ongoing attempt to dismantle our public education system under the guise of competence, as are the union busting legislation recently passed. I thought school principals administer job evaluations that would matter too.
Should we hold police officers pay hostage to the crime rate as a measure of their effectiveness.