School Chief Calls Vote 'Monumental Victory' For Teachers

MIAMI, FL — Miami-Dade schools chief Alberto M. Carvalho called the overwhelming voter support shown Tuesday a "monumental victory for the teachers and students of Miami-Dade County Public Schools.” Voters overwhelmingly approved a school board measure that imposes a special .75 "ad valorem tax" on property owners.

The measure allows the school system to raise $232 million over each of the next four years to boost pay for teachers and to place sworn school resource officers in all public schools.

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“It's a victory that ensures the safety of our schools and high-quality instruction in our classrooms," said Carvalho. "I am extremely proud and grateful to the voters of Miami-Dade.”

Carvalho and supporters of the measure gathered Tuesday night at iPrep Academy to watch the results.

The measure passed 531,083 to 215,422, according to unofficial results from the Miami-Dade Elections Department.

“By voting in favor of 362, our community has honored the fiscally responsible leadership of the school board, the strong partnerships enjoyed by the school district and the incredible work of teachers, which has yielded remarkable student outcomes. Once again, our community has stepped forward to invest in schools.”

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday's vote, Carvalho told reporters that the district was limited in how it rewarded teachers.

"Our sole revenue stream that can be utilized for teacher salary increases comes from the state," Carvalho said earlier. "Looking at the past couple of years, that's been less than 1 percent. This liberates us from that single source of funding and expended the opportunity for a far greater investment."

The ballot measure read as follows:

"Shall the School Board of Miami-Dade County, Florida, levy 0.75 mills of ad valorem taxes for operational funds (1) to improve compensation for high quality teachers and instructional
personnel, and (2) to increase school safety and security personnel, with oversight by a Citizen Advisory Committee, beginning July 1, 2019, and ending June 30, 2023?"

Carvalho was joined by U.S. Representative Carlos Curbelo, Miami-Dade Commissioner Barbara J. Jordan, the head of United Teachers of Dade and school board members in urging voters to approve the ballot measure ahead of Tuesday's vote.

"If this does not pass, we'll continue to be under absolute and unique constricting revenue streams from one single source which has not quite frankly been adequate or sufficient for Miami-Dade's teachers," Carvalho warned at the time.

Representative Curbelo said taxpayers should look at the measure as an investment rather than a tax.

The initiative was spearheaded by a political action committee known as Secure Our Future, which is chaired by Tony Agriz. He is also the chairman and CEO of Morrison, Brown, Argiz & Farra, LLC, which is among the 40 top accounting firms in the United States.

Miami-Dade Commissioner Barbara Jordan told reporters that there are a number of schools in Miami-Dade County that will benefit from security upgrades.

"After what happened at Marjory Stoneman Douglas we should all be out there going door to door to make sure we get the support," Jordan said earlier. "We want to make sure that our schools are fortified, that they have the kind of protections in place so just anybody cannot walk in and take advantage of the weakness of situation."

School Superintendent Alberto Carvalho speaks in favor of the referendum that will allow the Miami-Dade school system to raise $232 million over each of the next four years to boost pay for teachers and to place sworn school resource officers in all public schools. Photo by Paul Scicchitano.