- October 14, 2026
Though bargaining between Volusia County Schools and the Volusia United Educators union is ongoing, one understanding has been reached: salary increases for veteran teachers.
The Volusia County School Board approved a memorandum of understanding with VUE regarding the allocation of state-funded instructional personnel salary increases at its meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 8. The district received just over $4 million from the state to provide salary increases to full-time classroom and certified kindergarten teachers with at least 10 years of experience in a Florida public school. VCS will supplement about $611,000 to the state funds for the salary increases, which are as follows:
Why has the board entered into an MOU before bargaining is complete? Andrew Langenbach, the district's ESE/ADA compliance attorney, explained that the teacher salary increase allocation — formerly the TSIA and now referred to as the Classroom Teacher and Other Instructional Personnel Salary Increase (CTOIPS) at the state level — was often not distributed until after all bargaining was set.
"This year, the Legislature determined that the CTOIPS was a financial urgency, and they declared that from the beginning of July until the end of July, we had to bargain on the CTOIPS specifically and either reach impasse or settle on it," Langenbach said.
Per the Florida Department of Education's requirements, the CTOIPS needs to be ratified prior to Oct. 1.
Volusia United Educators will hold its ratification on Sept. 30. Nothing happens until this takes place, VUE President Elizabeth Albert said to the board.
"So I want you to understand that although folks in Tallahassee have set an arbitrary deadline that we are trying to comply with, the sense of financial urgency needs to be applied to everybody in the instructional bargaining unit," she said. "The TSIA or the LMNOP, whatever you want to call it anymore, only covers about 50% of the individuals who show up every day to do the job of teaching and supporting instruction for children."
The CTOIPS doesn't include funding for salary increases for media specialists, school counselors, academic coaches, and other non-classroom educators.
"I know that we're committed to doing the hard work," Albert said. "We've got people here tonight that have been a part of the process. We've got about 30 or so folks that continue to show up on the regular for bargaining sessions, so our commitment is real. Our commitment is there, and I just hope that we receive the same."
