After the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a spike in teachers leaving the profession, with an estimated 1,000 vacancies in Hillsborough County alone causing the district to try to entice teachers to stay. On Aug. 23, Hillsborough County held its primary elections; of the many things people had to vote on, a school tax increase referendum (a millage bill) was on the budget. To the disappointment of many educators, however, the bill was not passed.

For those who aren’t aware, a millage bill is an increase in property taxes based on property value. In this case, property taxes would’ve gone up one dollar for every $1000 paid in taxes, raising around $146 million each year. The money would’ve gone towards funding for arts programs as well as raises for teachers.

There was a multitude of reasons as to why the bill didn’t pass, including a sense of doubt over Hillsborough county’s ability to manage their funds which isn’t unfounded because Hillsborough County has almost been taken over by the state for its financial issues. Similar to Biden’s student loan forgiveness, many feel that they shouldn’t have to pay for others’ education, especially if they themselves don’t have any children in the education system.

However, this increase has been in the works for a long time. In 2017, teachers agreed to a new salary scale that would increase intermittently as the years go on. Unfortunately, Hillsborough County has not been holding up its end of the bargain, only providing salary “supplements” equivalent to the amount of money that would’ve been added had the increase been given. This isn’t helping though, because according to the Tampa Bay Times, the raise isn’t actually going on the teachers record so it’s more like a bonus.

“[Teachers] pay has not increased with the [cost] of living expenses here,” said Sarah Sanford, one of Robinson’s Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association representatives. “We used to be the county that paid our teachers the most in Florida and now, nine years in, I am now officially making what a brand-new teacher makes.”

Unlike most other professions, teachers in Florida are not allowed to strike (due to an amendment in the Florida constitution pertaining to government employees) so besides negotiation and protesting outside of school hours this means they have no real way of forcing the district’s hand in order to get them to provide more funding.

For example, in Columbus Ohio, teachers were striking because they didn’t have air conditioning in classrooms (as well as other things) and refused to go back unless they could get what they wanted. They were successful at ensuring that the classrooms would have air conditioning by 2025 and they also negotiated a 3% pay raise.

Eventually, teachers might realize that they could find better work outside of Hillsborough County, causing them to leave the district’s schools, but this won’t only affect teachers.

“We are seeing teachers leave the classroom at an alarming rate as they seek higher paying jobs, which creates instability for our students,” said Superintendent Addison Davis in his “Strong schools, Stronger Hillsborough statement.”

The more teachers that leave, the larger class sizes will be. This won’t only cause more distractions for struggling students, but also would decrease the number of time teachers could spend working with each student one-on-one, which is why it is so important that Hillsborough County finds a way to hold on to their teachers.

“I absolutely think that if [the millage bill] had passed, and the district could maintain their commitments to pay teachers what they were supposed to, they would be able to retain more teachers,” Sanford said. “We’re feeling like we would be better appreciated elsewhere.”