- November 7, 2025
This story was updated at 9:25 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 17, to include information regarding the impasse from Volusia County Schools.
As a union steward for Volusia United Educators, Mainland High School teacher Susan Holbrook asked her colleagues: If you could say one thing to the School Board and the superintendent, what would you say?
Their responses? One teacher sells plasma to pay her bills. Another said she wished she could sell plasma to buy her groceries, but can't due to the cancer treatments. Then there was a statement by a teacher who lives with three roommates to make rent, and another by a teacher who has to work five jobs to make ends meet.
"As teachers, we live near poverty, while expected to give, give, give," a teacher's statement said, as read by Holbrook. "Enough. I want to feel valued."
Holbrook read these responses while speaking before the Volusia County School Board on Tuesday, Oct. 14, a meeting during which VUE representatives and educators rallied to advocate for better pay as bargaining with the district has come to an impasse.
According to VUE, bargaining began on Sept. 2 with a $13.8 million salary package proposal that included a 4% cost-of-living increase for all; paid maternity leave for 45 days; bereavement leave for three days; a 4% increase to supplements; an increase to the retention supplement for veteran teachers; recognition of advanced degrees; a 206-day salary schedule for VUE members who work 10 more days beyond the school year; and Teacher Salary Increase Allocation dollars (state funds known as TSIA) that would total a .65% average increase for instructional staff.
The district responded with a $3.9 million package at the Sept. 11 bargaining session. The package included a 1.5% cost-of-living increase and the TSIA funds.
The 1.5% cost-of-living increase and state funds were offered again at the most recent bargaining session with VUE Support on Oct. 8, but the district added on two days of bereavement and a 1% non-recurring bonus. The district also proposed a redistribution of $17.6 million in salary enhancements for factors such as advanced degrees and retention.
Annual retention supplements will range from $375 to over $5,000 for teachers with five or more years of experience based on the number of years they have been in VCS. Annual longevity supplement range from $100 to $1,500 for teachers with 11 or more years of experience.
Under the current proposal, all instruction staff will earn a minimum of a 2.5% increase this year, according to VCS. A total of 90.7% of instructional staff would receive an over 3% monetary increase.
"After five bargaining sessions, the district declared impasse with the Volusia United Educators (VUE) Instructional unit on Sept. 25, 2025," the district's statement reads. "This decision was made to help expedite resolution and ensure timely compensation increases for all instructional employees."
VUE is focused on the 1.5% cost-of-living increase.
"Our instructional personnel are worth far more than 1.5% for the work they do to increase student achievement," VUE President Elizabeth Albert said at the School Board meeting. "You can do better. Prioritize your people, invest in those doing the work and restore the dignity to the employees who make our public schools the best place to educate the children of Volusia County."
According to the National Education Association, Florida ranks 50th in the nation for teacher pay. The current base salary offered by VCS — $49,201 – is not competitive with surrounding districts, Albert said, trailing behind others in the Central Florida area by $5,000 to $6,000. The district states its average base salary is $52,612.
"Your employees are working harder than ever, yet they are struggling to make ends meet," Albert said. "Wages are low. Respect feels conditional and the people that make VCS an A-rated district are reaching their breaking point."
In addition to speaking before the board, VUE also held a demonstration outside of the VCS District Administration Complex prior to the meeting. In a rare instance of solidarity, they were joined by the Moms for Liberty Volusia Chapter after Albert received a letter from School Board attorney Gilbert Evans. The letter informed VUE that there would be a designated area for its demonstration and asked that VUE members refrain from using megaphones, loudspeakers or "any other noise enhancing devices" due to the building's proximity to neighborhoods. The letter concluded by thanking VUE for adhering to these "restrictions."
Moms For Liberty Volusia Chapter Chair Jenifer Kelly said this was a violation of the teacher's union's First Amendment rights.
"This is a taxpayer-funded building," Kelly said. "Your salaries that you are here working are all taxpayer funded. We have every right to stand out in front of this building, on a sidewalk, any government space, and hold a rally or demonstration."
Earlier in the meeting, after a VUE member hurled a derogatory phrase to the board as he left the chamber, Chair Jamie Haynes said during the pause in public comments that the board was not trying to take anyone's First Amendment rights away.
"Your First Amendment right is you filling out a card and us listening to you speak for three minutes," she said. "No one's taken this away from you tonight. We never have."
Addressing the VUE member's action, Albert apologized on behalf of the union and said VUE would take necessary action as well.
After listening to the educators at the meeting, School Board member Donna Brosemer said she was angry and embarrassed by what she heard.
"District leadership knows what I thought of 1.5 (percent) from the beginning," she said, adding that the board had been celebrating Homes Bring Hope — a nonprofit that recently helped six VCS employees become homeowners — while "completely ignoring the fact that there's no number of plaques and certificates or photo ops or challenge coins that we can give to any teacher that helps them pay their bills."
"What I heard tonight was horrifying," Brosemer said. "So I hope that we all take this to heart and do more than just be dignified in ignoring it."
Other School Board members thanked educators for coming out, but refrained from commenting further on the issue.
"When you go to impasse, we actually can't respond," Haynes said. "We can't talk to the district staff about anything financially, and we can't talk to you guys about anything financially."
The last time the district and VUE were at an impasse was in 2023.
