BARTOW, FL — The Polk County School Board unanimously approved a $6.75 million teacher salary increase agreement Tuesday evening that will provide raises to approximately 2,707 classroom teachers with 10 or more years of Florida teaching experience. While the increase represents additional pay for thousands of educators, it raises a larger question: What about the rest of Polk County’s approximately 6,600 teachers?
The agreement passed 7-0 during the Sept. 8 School Board meeting. District officials said Polk County received approximately $8.4 million in Teacher Salary Increase Allocation funding from the state, with about $1.7 million allocated to charter schools, leaving approximately $6.75 million for the district’s agreement.
Polk County Public Schools will distribute $6,748,888 in Classroom Teacher and Other Instructional Personnel Salary Increase Allocation funding for the 2026–2027 school year. “The changes would take effect in the October paychecks,” a PCPS representative told our team.
Polk County Public Schools employs approximately 6,600 teachers, according to Stephanie Yokum, president of the Polk Education Association. Yokum said the 10-year experience requirement means roughly two-thirds of other teachers are being left out of the salary increases.
“We must ensure that money coming from the state is not putting teachers against each other,” Yokum told the board. She said teachers are being divided over the “scraps” provided by the state Legislature and urged the district to use its budget to help “make others whole.”
In an interview with Eye In The Sky News following the meeting, Yokum expanded on her call for greater local control over teacher compensation.
Yokum said she wants the state to eliminate forced deadlines, contingencies and other “strings attached” to education funding. Instead, she believes money allocated to local school districts should be provided with greater flexibility, allowing districts and their unions — who she said know their employees and local circumstances better than Tallahassee — to negotiate how the money is used.
“We need revenue not controlled by Tallahassee,” Yokum told Eye In The Sky News.
Yokum pointed to Hillsborough County, where voters approved a similar property-tax referendum in November 2024, and said the measure is now bringing additional money into that district for teacher compensation. She said a majority of Florida school districts have turned to local millage referendums to help fund salaries.
In Polk County, voters will be asked in November to approve a 1.0-mill ad valorem property-tax increase. One mill represents $1 in property tax for every $1,000 of taxable property value. For example, $200,000 in taxable value would result in approximately $200 in additional property taxes annually.
If approved, the Polk measure would remain in place for four years and provide funding for teacher and staff compensation, school safety, fine arts, workforce development, early childhood education and athletics. The funding would be monitored by an independent citizens’ oversight committee.
Yokum also highlighted the financial pressures facing beginning teachers. During the School Board meeting, she said a beginning Polk County teacher earns approximately $48,000 while referencing a roughly $49,000 income threshold associated with Lakeland Housing Authority public assistance.
Additional information about the proposed millage referendum is available at yesforstudentsuccess.org. Nothing further.
Editor’s Note: Under the agreement, eligible classroom teachers at salary level AAG007 and above will move six pay levels to AAJ13 and above, retroactive to their first day of contracted work.
Any remaining state allocation dollars, along with general fund money, will be used for other currently employed teachers with at least 10 years of Florida teaching experience who are not classified as classroom teachers. Eligible employees in that group at AAG007 and above will move one pay level to AAH008 and above.
SOURCE: Polk County Public Schools Media Relations; School Board; Polk Education Association Stephanie Yokum
