Property tax increase benefits Palm Beach County schools and teachers
The estimated extra $150 million collected each year will go to school safety strategies and teacher wage increases.
Palm Beach County voters approved a property tax increase in November that will benefit local schools, much to the relief of Palm Beach County teachers. The tax passed with a 72 percent to 28 percent vote.
With an estimated $150 million each year, the tax will go towards developing school safety strategies and higher pay for teachers.
Around 650 specialty teacher positions such as arts and music education will be funded through the property tax. The tax will start July 1, 2019 and will last for four years.
For Camile Lofters, an English and Journalism teacher at Boca Raton Community High School, the approval of the property tax was a source of relief and joy. Her husband is also an art teacher in the school district and they were afraid that without the initiative, he would lose his job.
In addition, teachers in Florida haven’t received cost of living increases or years of service raises in over a decade.
“My husband is on his third year of teaching and I’m on my twelfth, and yet our base salaries are nearly the same,” she said.
Lofters believes this initiative means more deserving pay for teachers as well as a bigger budget to hire more mental health and support staff that schools so desperately need.
“It means a lot to have the support of our community and know they see education as a priority,” Lofters said.
Furthermore, Palm Beach County teachers will now be the highest paid in the state, which will mean the district can attract more teachers to their schools.
Yvette Drucker, Chairman of the Education Task Force, participated in informational sessions through the Community Foundation to educate citizens about issues on the ballot before the election. She admitted that a majority of the people were confused by the property tax and did not seem to understand why the penny tax, which many had previously voted for, was not being used for certain purposes.
Drucker emphasized during her sessions that voting for the property tax would increase teacher pay and allow for more humanities teachers in school.
“We are going to lose these teachers. If the voters enjoy art and culture, on that principle, they should be voting yes,” Drucker said.
Despite the confusion surrounding the penny and property tax, Drucker was surprised to see a large number of adults ranging from 18-year-olds to millennials, in her sessions.
“They had already voted and they were very familiar with everything. They kept saying ‘you have to vote, whatever you do.’ It was a very refreshing conversation. It was good to hear that people are actually voting particularly, young people,” Drucker said.
According to School Board Member Frank Barbieri, there was an indication that the property tax would be approved. Polling showed a 65–68 percent approval for the school district tax. Barbieri also noted that polling showed 45 percent of voters were not aware that the school board was asking for an increase of funds.
“It’s kind of ironic that they put education last on the ballot,” Barbieri said.
Drucker also mentioned that the change of governor will have an impact on future school policies regardless of political parties. She highlighted that change comes with a new leader, and it depends on the priorities of each of the candidates that are up for election.
As for the impact that it will have on the school board, according to Barbieri, the governor appoints the state board of education.
“Even if the governor stays Republican, there could be a change in the state board. The state board sets a lot of the policies for the school districts in Florida,” Barbieri said.
Gov.-elect Ron DeSantis’ transition team said in early December that DeSantis wants former state House Speaker Richard Corcoran to be the state’s next education commissioner. Corcoran, a conservative Republican from the Tampa area, has been a strong advocate or charter schools, which Democrats say drains money and other resources from the public school system.
