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For years, the Florida Legislature has been trying to limit the influence of CTA and our partner state union, FEA (Florida Education Association) on how public-school teachers are paid, supported and treated. The damage is real, often repeated, and grossly disrespectful!
In 2011, the first year that Rick Scott was Governor, we lost Professional Service Contracts (a contract that teachers received at the beginning of their fourth year in a Florida public school that was automatically renewed every year except in extremely serious circumstances).
2011 was also the year that state government began to dictate how teachers were paid rather than relying on the work of the local school board collaborating with the local teachers’ union.
Finally, in 2023, the legislature managed to eliminate the simplest and most trusted way to pay your union dues (payroll deduction), while also requiring local union recertification every year. But they did not require it of all unions. Some were exempted.
This alone has forced CTA to do numerous other tasks just to make certain you are fully represented. Given what I now know, I believe we are doing it better than every other local teachers’ union in the state. We have not lost any of our contract protections, our annual salary agreements lead the state almost every year, we are not burdened with the level of insurance premium increases so many other districts are facing, your workload has not been increased, . . . . I could go on!
That brings us to our upcoming PERC Representation Election at the end of April. As I stated above, we are now in a position to have to do this regularly, possibly every year. And even though much of this may seem oppressive, I recall a frequently heard statement that every day rings more true than the day before: “They tried to bury us in the ground, BUT, they forgot we were seeds.” You see, through all of this, Palm Beach County Teachers, as well as so many others across the state, have proven to be more resilient to these challenges than teachers in any other state that has or is facing similar assaults. And ALL OF THE CREDIT goes to you, MEMBERS of CTA and also to your colleagues statewide.
Do I, like you, feel the weight of all the mistreatment we’ve faced? ABSOLUTELY! Do I have hope for better days ahead? I MOST CERTAINLY DO! And I have that optimism because I know your hearts and minds for our profession, for the students we teach, and for the public schools where we’ve chosen to do this most noble work.
That is why I’m asking you to treat this vote like a CONTRACT RATIFICATION VOTE! It is, after all, exactly that. When you vote YES, you will RATIFY the work that CTA has done, is doing, and will continue to do for teachers! You will also RATIFY THE STRENGTH WE HAVE STANDING TOGETHER AS ONE!
So finally, if I may, I’d like to ask you to do three things:
1. Watch for your ballot beginning April 24, 2025.
2. When you receive your ballot, open it, mark “YES – Palm Beach County Classroom Teachers Association, Inc.”, and immediately return it to PERC following ALL INSTRUCTIONS given for doing so.
3. Tell every colleague at your school to do the same. (Please use the image at the end of this email for talking points with other teachers)
If you do these three simple tasks, we will see voter turnout like we’ve never seen before. On top of that, school district officials, including the School Board Members, as well as other elected office holders, will see the unity we have, the strength we are showing, and will realize that such a force for good must be respected.
I know this message has been longer than usual, and I so appreciate you taking time to read all of this more than you can know. If you have any questions about this representation election, feel free to reply to this email or write me directly at Gordan.Longhofer@Floridaea.org
In Solidarity,
Gordan Longhofer, CTA President
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