This millage will go to support our students and ensure they have great teachers in the classroom. This year, there are about 400 vacancies in teaching positions, meaning that around 10,000 Hillsborough County students are starting this year without a full-time teacher. Student success is directly linked to having a highly qualified teacher at the front of the classroom, and we cannot let our students fall behind and we must be able to compete on a level playing field with our peer districts.

Add your name to our email list to learn more about this campaign and find out how you can support Hillsborough County students. Volunteer as a sign waver at the following polling locations: 

Bloomingdale Regional Public Library 
Jan Kaminis Platt Regional Library
Jimmie B. Keel Regional Library
Southshore Regional Service Center
Temple Terrace Public Library 

The typical homeowner in Hillsborough County will see an increase on their property tax of less than $300 annually. For more information on how your assessment would be impacted, the Property Appraiser’s office has created a tool for you to use: click here to see where you would stand.

The millage will support teachers, education support professionals, bus drivers, principals, assistant principals, and other school staff – personnel who directly contribute to student success. The millage will help increase the salaries in these positions, making them more attractive to the highly qualified teachers, principals and other job candidates our students need. This salary increase will also bring Hillsborough County into line with our neighboring counties. Pinellas, Pasco, Manatee, and Sarasota Counties all currently have a millage for salaries at their school districts. Because of this, all offer higher salaries than Hillsborough.

The Hillsborough County School District has aggressively engaged in significant fiscal restraint over the past several years. This means not automatically filling open positions, closing under enrolled schools, and finding other ways to reduce costs. However, the salary offerings from our neighboring counties – made possible by their millages – are too good for many of our great teachers to pass up. We’re simply not able to compete with surrounding counties, based on what we have.

A similar millage was on the ballot in 2022, and it just missed being approved by only a few hundred votes. Since that time, we have built a grassroots organization to support the millage so our students can succeed. We recognize it’s never a good time to ask for a millage increase, but our students can’t wait.

Every year, Hillsborough County loses teachers to better paying jobs. Last year alone, over 1,700 teachers left the school district before retirement. There are 400 teacher vacancies right now! That is a historic gap in typical employment within the school district.

It is critical to Hillsborough County students that the funds raised from the millage go into positions that directly impact student success. Not only will there be a blue-ribbon citizen advisory council to oversee and approve the use of these dollars, but there is a detailed impact plan created by the school district and agreed to by the teachers that shows where these dollars will go. This accountability to the voters and taxpayers of Hillsborough County is essential to the success of this millage, that will have to be re-authorized every four years.

The district has gone through aggressive financial tightening exercises over the past several years to ensure funds are directed to the greatest need, as well as working to increase transparency in their budgeting system.
 
As with any other organization, certain funds are restricted to being used for only certain things – such as the school district is prohibited from using capital dollars for anything other than capital improvements. Likewise, this millage can and will only go to salaries – for teachers and other positions that have a direct impact on student success such as principals, assistant principals, and bus drivers.

Moreover, this millage will utilize a citizen oversight committee to be sure that these dollars are going where they are supposed to be going.

Hillsborough County is behind the curve when compared to other counties in the Tampa Bay region. Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando, Manatee, and Sarasota all have millages to support their teacher salaries. State-wide, 25 counties that make up nearly 70 percent of Florida’s population, have a millage for teacher salaries, meaning that of the ten largest school districts in the state Hillsborough County is the only one without a millage. Hillsborough is the seventh largest school district in the United States, and the third largest in Florida. Florida ranks 50th in the nation for teacher pay, and Hillsborough lags in the state on a per-student basis.

Currently, there are more than 400 teacher vacancies, and enough bus driver vacancies to make 8,000 students late for school every day. The school district has aggressively worked over the past several years to ensure that the workforce is the right size for our students to succeed, reducing positions and reallocating resources where appropriate. These open positions must be filled to ensure student success.

These vacancies are across the district.

This campaign is supported by a wide grassroots coalition of teachers, students, parents, business and community leaders – all with the goal of improving student success in Hillsborough County.

Yes, we have the following document that you can print or share through text or email: Click Here