Like many other school district leaders across the state, Duval County Superintendent Christopher Bernier has toured Jacksonville to inform residents about a property-tax renewal levied by the school district that is on the ballot this November, which would help boost teacher pay. 

But Bernier is instead often pushed by voters to talk about other issues in his public appearances, including Amendment 3, a separate – and controversial – statewide ballot initiative to cut property taxes across Florida, which critics argue would dramatically defund local governments. 

Bernier’s dilemma is strikingly common. As state lawmakers push to cut property taxes through Amendment 3, over 40% of Florida’s public school districts will also have their own property-tax proposals before voters on the ballot. Although Amendment 3 exempts school districts from the potential property-tax cut, school districts could be hit in indirect ways, like shuttered after-school programs that are funded by taxing districts and local governments.

And now, with their own tax proposals sharing the ballot with Amendment 3, public school leaders are concerned about voter confusion, with the stakes being particularly high for Florida school districts. Student enrollment in traditional public schools is down across the state, driven in part by a national birthrate decline and the rapid expansion of school vouchers. And since state dollars are tied to enrollment, fewer students mean less funding. Property taxes remain a critical source of funding to support anything from teachers to arts and athletic programs to early-learning.

“We hear about voter confusion,” Bernier told a packed room of voters during a community meeting organized by the Jacksonville branch of the NAACP in late September.

“I was in this very room when somebody said they had heard that voters were being coached to vote no on both. ‘No’ means no continuation. ‘Yes’ means continuation. We want you to understand that Amendment 3 and our millage are completely separate from each other.”

A tax cut and a tax ask on the same ballot

If Duval’s measure is approved, one of 28 counties with a tax proposal on the ballot, 88% of the $121 million in revenue would go toward teacher salaries and the remainder would enhance arts and athletics programs.

Florida’s teacher compensation ranks 50th across the U.S., per data from the National Education Association.

Since receiving an A-rating from the Florida Department of Education for the second consecutive school year, the district views the additional funding as an opportunity to support teachers in earning a living wage. 

District leaders say that without the millage, qualified teachers will leave the state or the profession entirely. The request to approve the tax comes as recent polling from the University of North Florida’s Public Opinion Research Lab shows that affordability is the top concern for Florida voters this election cycle as food, gas and insurance prices climb.

Teacher pay doesn’t meet cost of living

Miami-Dade County voters passed a similar measure, the “Secure Our Future” tax referendum in 2018 and again in 2022, a sign of how hard rising housing and living costs were already squeezing the region.

“We passed that referendum because we knew that salaries aren’t equivalent to the cost of living in Miami-Dade County. We knew and we know today that the cost of living in Miami-Dade County is still very difficult,” said Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent Rafael Villalobos.

Duval County Public Schools, which first passed its property tax in 2022, is last among Florida’s major metropolitan districts in teacher salary. Without renewing the tax, teachers will likely leave Duval public schools for better pay in surrounding school districts that have a more robust school-related tax that supplements employee pay. 

“When the millage came on board, we were looking at the number of vacancies at the 400, 500 range just post-COVID. Since 2022, every year, that level of vacancy comes down,” Bernier said.

A tax-created supplement of $8,668 given directly to teachers, school police and other staff will likely increase recruitment and retention rates, Bernier and school board members told The Florida Trib. Charter schools will still receive a portion of the revenue from the property tax based on enrollment numbers.

“We’re still facing a national teachers crisis, but because we’re more competitive in the market at beginning and mid-range salaries, we’re getting more people to join us. This year, we were at about 96% full when we started the year. That still meant over 100 vacancies in our classrooms. That’s too many,” Bernier said.

“We’re trying to meet parents and students based on where their needs are and their interests are, but there’s only so much of that we can leverage,” Heid said.

‘I can’t create more money’

Florida public school districts may be forced to reduce other operational funding if their respective property tax proposals do not pass in November.

“I do think we’d have to make some more difficult decisions about transportation. I think we’d have to make some more difficult decisions about how we staff our schools, about class sizes [and] about whether or not certain schools can even stay open,” Heid said. 

Polk County Public Schools may also have to consider school closures and consolidations as maintaining fewer campuses cost less money. 

“But I think that’s our reality. The reality of it is that I can’t create more money,” Heid said.

Duval, Orange and Miami-Dade counties have grappled with the same issue as enrollment continues to fall. 

For Duval County, garnering local support for the tax renewal also means overcoming local controversies. During the community meeting hosted by the NAACP Jacksonville Branch, voters still pressed Bernier on several issues including school closures, many of the earliest of which occurred in predominantly Black neighborhoods, and the school district making recent headlines for teachers having inappropriate interactions with students.

Having both a major property tax reduction and the millage referendum on ballot, school districts have had to distinguish between the two ballot initiatives to voters and dispel misconceptions.

“One is very local. One is very related to the educators who are responsible for helping Duval raise its overall performance…The other is about a statewide process by which our local governments, the city of Jacksonville, are seeing if there’s room to trim back down to some really essential services,” Bernier said. 

Superintendents across the state told The Florida Trib that the tax referendum is a way to not only keep pay competitive but also show their commitment to teachers and staff who work in schools. 

“When the public comes in behind something like this and supports it, it sends a strong message to those people who are working with children every day. That they matter, that they’re important, that they’re respected. 
And that will do a lot to improve morale,” Heid said.

Trinity Webster-Bass covers education for The Florida Trib. You can reach her at trinity.webster-bass@floridatrib.org.