Orange County teacher pay raise passes by slim margin

ORLANDO, Fla. - Orange County teachers narrowly approved a 6% pay raise ahead of the upcoming school year. The final votes were counted Thursday night. 

The union says 4,258 teachers voted out of the roughly 14,000 who were eligible. Union and non-union teachers are eligible to vote. 2,222 voted in favor of the raise. 2,036 voted no - hoping to send all parties back to the negotiation table to discuss a possible increase. 

Here's a breakdown of what that ‘yes’ vote means for teachers: 

• Everyone gets a $900 Cost of Living Adjustment
• Teachers can earn an additional $1,800 - $2,425 based on performance evaluations. Teachers are rated either "Highly Effective" or "Effective." "Highly Effective" teachers are paid more.
• The total increase is anywhere from $2,700 - $3,325
• Starting salary for teachers is now $48,400

Teacher Albert Davies says he understands why some tried to vote it down. 

"The 2,000 people who voted against it - they're right - teachers are not getting enough money," said Davies, who ended up voting for the pay raise. "This is the best we could get right now."

Davies, who also works for the union, said a financial expert was brought in to review OCPS’ budget before making the over $55 million salary package proposal.  

Union President Clinton McCracken says if they had less red tape from Tallahassee - they could get more money to teachers. 

"Over 20 laws that regulate teacher pay and how we can create salary increases," said McCracken, "Part of that money also has to go towards other places in Orange County. Like Charter Schools. Not every dollar that people are talking about can be used for salary increases." 

But some teachers say they wanted the numbers crunched again, and budget details spelled out. They argue teachers need at least another $1,000 to survive inflation and thought more had been allocated by state lawmakers.  

"I can tell you, these teachers are very, very upset, and they feel disenfranchised," said Rob Prater. 

Rob Prater was one of the teachers who voted no. He says he'd like a recount or re-vote because of the slim margin. He says some didn't get a ballot. He's weighing options to file a complaint about the process.

"Someone is going to file just based on how the process went. Will that be me or someone else, don't know. It just happened last night," said Prater. 

The union says it was aware some didn't get mail-in ballots. The president says ballots were offered at their office and the voting deadline was extended as accommodation. 

Although teachers who voted against the raise may not have gotten their wishes - they appear to have sent a strong message to union leaders. 

"Very important to us that voices are heard. We hear them loud and clear based on the vote yesterday," said McCracken. 

Teachers can expect to see the Cost of Living Adjustment in their first paycheck of the school year and their increase based on performance evaluations in October.