Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association

🚨 DON’T MISS OUT! A day and 1/2 left!!!! 🚨

Make ONE dues payment in May and get THREE MONTHS of full membership FREE!

✔️ Join by end of day tomorrow, May 22, 2026
✔️ Make one dues payment this month
✔️ Get June, July & August FREE

With major contract negotiations in process and a new school year on the horizon, now more than ever it’s important to stand together. Start 26-27 with our union standing behind you!!

📌 Decision makers KNOW when employees aren’t engaged. Strong membership strengthens our voice at the bargaining table.

📲 Scan the QR code or join here:
https://feacms.floridaea.org/portal/fasttrack/198/form

Contact our office if you have questions or need help joining!

💪 Be part of the solution.
💙 Be part of HCTA.

Join now!! Don’t miss this opportunity (and don’t let your colleagues miss it either!!) to join before FRIDAY, May 22, to make one dues payment & receive THREE months of full membership. No dues again until September!! Take advantage of great benefits over the summer like Member Assist, and Start the 26-27 school year with full representation & legal protections!!

https://feacms.floridaea.org/portal/fasttrack/198/

🚨 JOIN HCTA IN MAY! 🚨

Make ONE dues payment and get THREE MONTHS of full membership FREE!

✔️ Join by May 22, 2026
✔️ Make one dues payment
✔️ Get June, July & August FREE

With major contract negotiations ahead and staffing changes happening across the district, now more than ever it’s important to stand together.

📌 Decision makers KNOW when employees aren’t engaged. Strong membership strengthens our voice at the bargaining table.

📲 Scan the QR code or join here:
https://feacms.floridaea.org/portal/fasttrack/198/form

Contact our office if you have questions or need help joining!

💪 Be part of the solution.
💙 Be part of HCTA.

What a week for HCTA as we head toward the finish line of the 2025-2026 school year! 💙✊

This past week was a reminder that our union is ALL OF US and the work never stops:

📚 Monday, May 11
HCTA Member Organizers, staff, and leaders kicked off preparations for Summer Recruitment, getting ready to welcome and support HCPS’s newest employees at onboarding!

🚀 Tuesday, May 12
Mission Solidarity landed at Lamb Elementary! Through our Rep Release Program, where members organize members, SEVEN new members joined HCTA at one site alone! This is the power of educators talking to educators and building our union together.

🎉 Thursday, May 13 – Rep Council
Our final Rep Council meeting of the year was packed with celebrations and recognition!

👏 We honored outstanding ESP leaders who will serve as mentors in Project Connect ESP, CTechEd’s newest program supporting and developing ESP leaders.

💰 We also recognized 5 HCTA members who earned $250 recruitment supplements for bringing at least 5 new members each into HCTA! (Want to earn one too? Reach out to your HCTA staff rep!)

🤝 Friday & Saturday
HCTA proudly hosted the Florida Education Association Statewide Governance Board Meeting, welcoming union leaders from across Florida to learn, plan, and strengthen our statewide movement.

Representing HCTA were President Rob Kriete, Board Members Wendy Carey, Sabrina Gates, Linda Perdue, and Executive Director Brit Wegmann.

🏆 And finally…

Congratulations to our own HCTA Vice President Regina Gambrell, honored by the National Coalition of 100 Black Women – Tampa Bay Area Chapter with the “Passing the Torch Leadership Award” in K-12 Education.

Regina’s leadership, advocacy, and commitment to students, educators, community partners, and our union continue to make a difference every day. We are proud to stand beside her and celebrate this incredible recognition. 💛🖤

As the school year winds down, HCTA keeps educating, organizing, advocating, and growing. Because together, we are stronger. 💙

Join HCTA (or ask your colleagues to join!) by May 22 this week to make one dues payment and receive THREE MONTHS of full membership for free! Start the 26-27 school year with our union behind you!!

https://feacms.floridaea.org/portal/fasttrack/198/form

What we do together is powerful!! Join HCTA before May 22 to make one dues payment and receive full membership benefits for June, July and August for free! Start the 26-27 school year with our union behind you!

https://feacms.floridaea.org/portal/fasttrack/198/form

🚨 Florida lawmakers returned this week to a special session to finish the ONE job they are constitutionally required to do: pass a state budget.

And once again, public education employees are left waiting.

The current proposed Teacher Salary Increase Allocation (TSIA) would provide roughly $100.8 million statewide in new funding. Broken down statewide, that equals about $21 more per paycheck per instructional employee based on current estimates.

But there are major concerns:
➡️ The budget is STILL not finalized, so numbers could change.
➡️ Current House language limits raises to teachers with 20+ years of Florida public school experience.
➡️ Education Support Professionals like paraprofessionals, clerical employees, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, and other school staff are AGAIN excluded from TSIA funding.
➡️ Florida continues to rank 50th in the nation in average teacher pay for the third straight year.

Meanwhile, school districts are being asked to do more with less while public schools continue losing funding and resources.

Public schools are not optional. They are a constitutional responsibility.

Now is the time for educators, parents, employees, and community members to speak up and demand real investment in Florida’s public schools, students, and employees.

📢 Tell lawmakers to fully fund public education.
📢 Support ALL school employees, not just a select few.
📢 Invest in the people who make our schools run every single day.

🔗 View the statewide TSIA estimates and funding breakdown:
https://feaweb.org/action-center/fund-public-education/

🔗 Contact lawmakers and demand full funding for public schools:

https://secure.ngpvan.com/KQd5Wrwvq06mmgkAYqutEQ2

If you’re retiring or just finally tackling that classroom closet, we’ll gladly take what you don’t need anymore. We’re collecting new or gently used classroom supplies for our New Teacher Free Market in August, and every little bit helps someone starting from scratch. Think posters, bins, manipulatives, office supplies, if it lived in your classroom, it probably has a second life.

Schedule a drop off here: https://bit.ly/ScheduleDropoff

Appreciate everyone who’s already chipped in. This is one of those things that really makes a difference.

We’re building a small HCTA Social Media Team and we’re looking for creative members who want to help tell our story!

If you’ve got ideas, enjoy creating content, or just want to try something new, this is a simple way to get involved.
Team members will create 1–2 posts per month highlighting our members, our work, and what matters in our schools.

Interested? Apply here: https://bit.ly/HCTASocialMediaApp

🚨 JOIN HCTA IN MAY! 🚨

Make ONE dues payment and get THREE MONTHS of full membership FREE!

✔️ Join by May 22, 2026
✔️ Make one dues payment
✔️ Get June, July & August FREE

With major contract negotiations ahead and staffing changes happening across the district, now more than ever it’s important to stand together.

📌 Decision makers KNOW when employees aren’t engaged. Strong membership strengthens our voice at the bargaining table.

📲 Scan the QR code or join here:
https://feacms.floridaea.org/portal/fasttrack/198/form

Contact our office if you have questions or need help joining!

💪 Be part of the solution.
💙 Be part of HCTA.

🎉 HCTA PREVAILED — 98% YES VOTE! 🎉
The ballots are in, and Hillsborough educators delivered a resounding message with Instructional employees voting overwhelmingly to KEEP their union.

Thank you to everyone who voted, organized, talked to coworkers, and stood strong together.
This is our victory, this is our voices, and this is our union!

Solidarity wins — always.

Up next: Paraprofessionals!
This recertification election will run December 17, 2025, through January 28, 2026, and ballots will begin arriving during Winter Break.
Let’s carry this momentum forward and support our Paras as they prepare to VOTE YES to keep their union strong.