Instructional Employees
For benefited instructional employees, salary may be increased by holding an advanced degree, full-time teaching experience and/or military experience. The employee is responsible for providing documentation of academic degrees and experience for credit to the Employment Services Department. Below is the link for the Instructional Teaching and Work Experience Verification form.
Click here for the Instructional Teaching and Work Experience Verification form.
Military Experience
Credit for up to four years of active military duty in the armed forces of the United States with an honorable discharge may be granted upon presentation of the DD-214 form.
Teaching Experience
Once verified, credit is given for previous teaching experience in private, public and charter schools as well as colleges and universities.
One day more than the number of days constituting one-half year of another state’s regular school year is considered one year of credit. No credit is given for substitute teaching, graduate assistantships, private nursery school or kindergarten teaching, unless the kindergarten was part of an elementary school. Verification forms must be received by the last duty day of the employee’s contract period to receive credit for the current school year for military, advanced degree or teaching experience.
In 2020-21, the state legislature approved the Teacher Salary Increase Allocation (TSIA) to increase the beginning teacher salary to $47,500 in the state of Florida. There were no additional dollars to give increases outside of the TSIA funding or to adjust for years of experience.
We place new instructional employees to OCPS by their years of experience and future increases are based on Performance Pay (we no longer have “steps”.) Right now, 0-19 years is paid at the Instructional minimum.
Each year, CTA (Classroom Teachers Association) and the district bargain for instructional increases. Whether your OCPS Final Summative Score is Effective or Highly Effective determines the amount of the increase to your annual salary (not a bonus). An Open Range Schedule was created to address the fact that, depending on performance, instructional salaries can vary. A teacher’s salary depends on when the teacher entered our structure and how many years of Performance Pay they have accumulated over the course of their employment. The performance pay increase remains on the teacher’s salary each year and never goes away.
Non-Instructional Employees
Non-instructional employees in benefited positions may be granted salary credit for full-time work experience related to the candidate’s new position with Orange County Public Schools. Verification forms will be available at the paperwork session (PREO) a candidate attends. Adjustments to an employee’s salary will be made after the completed verification forms have been received and reviewed by the Compensation Services Department. The employee is responsible for providing this documentation of past experience to the Compensation Services Department within the first year of employment.
As outlined in the Contract between The School Board of Orange County, Florida and The Orange Education Support Professionals Association (Article XV, Item B(3), page 44): “For work experience verification submitted during the employee’s first year of employment, the employee’s wage rate shall be adjusted retroactive to the date of benefited employment or the beginning of the current fiscal year, whichever is later. For work experience verification submitted after the employees, one year anniversary, the employee’s wage rate shall be adjusted on the pay period following the date the verification is acknowledged in writing by Compensation Services. Verification submitted after the employee’s one year anniversary shall not be paid retroactive.”
Click here for the Classified Experience Verification form.