Collier County teachers union negotiations stall as board and union trade offers

NAPLES, Fla. — NAPLES, Fla. — Negotiations between the Collier County Education Association and the school district remain at an impasse as Florida's October 1 deadline for teacher contract agreements has come and gone.

Fox 4's Eric Lovelace recaps the two offers made in this meeting:

Ken Mouton, president of the Collier County Education Association, left Wednesday night's meeting disappointed after the district's latest salary offer fell far short of union expectations.

"It was embarrassing," Mouton said.

The teachers union made its first offer in August, proposing a $4,225 increase to all base salaries, which would raise Collier County's current base salary from $57,000 to more than $61,000.

The district rejected that proposal and countered Wednesday with a significantly smaller offer, adding just $385 to the base salary, with an additional $220 to all "Highly Effective Performance Pay" members.

This offer also would have allowed negotiations to continue into October for additional pay increases and compensations.

This increase would be funded through the Teacher Salary Increase Allocation (TSIA) funds from the state, which are allocated to all districts specifically for teacher pay increases, rather than coming from the school district's budget.

Mouton said the modest offer felt like the board was "breadcrumbing" teachers.

"We want the whole package," Mouton said.

The teachers union responded with a counter-proposal asking for a base salary increase of $3,290, with additional pay increase for effective performance, and that's where negotiations ended.

"We put the ball back in their court by giving them a counter proposal," Mouton said.

Collier County's current teacher salary ranks in the top 5 of all school districts in Florida. The base pay of $57,000 was raised last year by 6%. The average teacher pay in the district is around $74,271, according to the district.

The next scheduled negotiation is set for October 16.