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Court Sides With School District: Former Out Of State Teachers Not Owed $350,000
March 1, 2010
The First District Court of Appeals has ruled that Escambia County is not obligated to pay in excess of $350,000 in back pay sought by eight teachers that entered the Escambia County School District with out of state experience.
The current and former teachers asserted that they did not receive proper placement on the school district’s salary schedule because they were not given proper credit for their teaching experience outside of Florida. Under the district’s salary schedule, more years of teaching experience equals a higher salary.
The school board asserted that years of experience outside Florida should be treated equally to service in Florida, and the district claimed that was the spirit of law enacted by the Florida Legislature. Each of the eight teachers claimed they were owed back pay up to $101,427 under their interpretation of the law.
“This was a huge win for the taxpayers,” Jeff Bergosh, school board member, said of last week’s court opinion. “The Legislature never intended to give something to out of state teachers that was not given to Florida teachers.”
“The district was fair and consistent in step placement for both in-state and out of state teachers who were new to the district, and it’s nice to do the right thing for all teachers and to come out on top and not be penalized by the courts,” Bergosh wrote on his blog.
For more on the lawsuit, and to read some of the legal documents in the case, visit Bergosh’s blog at jeffbergoshblog.blogspot.com
Comments
One Response to “Court Sides With School District: Former Out Of State Teachers Not Owed $350,000”
In the state of Florida you lose seniority when you move across counties., but you don’t lose years of experience. You are still on the step schedule where you left off in the former county. You have to go back to annual contract status and are no longer on continuing contract. I would think that teaching in another state would count towards your years of experience.