Yard signs supporting the 1-mill tax extension for Duval Schools read "Keep our best teachers in Duval." Duval School Board candidates weighed in on the tax and other issues before the November election. | School Board member Cindy Pearson via Facebook
Published on October 28, 2026 at 11:20 pm
Free local news and info, in your inbox at 6 a.m. M-F. Sign up for the Jacksonville Today newsletter.
Teachers stand to lose $8,668 per year each if voters on Tuesday opt not to extend a special property tax levied by Duval Schools since 2022 to support teacher salaries and arts and athletics programs.
In addition to voting yes or no in the Duval County School District Ad Valorem Millage Election, voters in three Jacksonville districts will also choose new school board representatives: Districts 2, 4 and 6 each have races with no incumbents. The candidates in the nonpartisan races were the top two vote getters in the August primaries. (District 4 also has a write-in candidate.)
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
Though by the time the Duval School Board seats its three new members, voters will already have decided the fate of the 1-mill tax extension, teacher pay is a perennial issue — and one that most of the candidates say is especially important to them.
In terms of what it pays its teachers, Florida ranks last among all states, according to data released in August by the National Education Association. According to U.S. Census data, the median owner-occupied home in Duval County is worth about $300,000. So, a typical homeowner contributes about $300 a year under the school district’s 1-mill levy.
The district says that the 1-mill translates to a salary supplement of almost $9,000 a year per teacher.
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
District 4: Rho Butler vs. Coach Jacobs
Rhodesia “Rho” Butler, a self-described “serial entrepreneur” who’s running to replace term-limited Darryl Willie in District 4, says the 1-mill makes the district more competitive.
“If we vote no, that’s going to stop what they’re already receiving as additional funding that helps them with a mortgage payment, that helps them with a car note, that helps them with insurance or whatever it is that they’re doing,” she says.
She grew up in Jacksonville, went to Pickett Elementary and to Rufus E. Payne when it was a sixth-grade center. She graduated from Stanton College Preparatory School. Butler worked for Duval Schools for many years, in positions ranging from paraprofessional to assistant principal.
Music runs through her blood; her father played the trumpet and she played the flute. She fondly remembers running through the halls of Eugene Butler Middle School, where her godfather was the band director. (She says her recent advocacy for Eugene Butler, now home to a STEM magnet program, is what made her want to run for school board.)
“Yes, yes, yes on the 1-mill,” says Butler, who today works for the Boys & Girls Club of Northeast Florida. “We just need to vote for continuation.”
Butler says her priority for Duval Schools is closing the achievement gap and maintaining the academic progress the district has made in recent years, leading to its overall A grade. As a board member, she says she’d analyze school-level data to “make sure that there’s equitable opportunities for all students to learn.” Her second priority is safety — and providing the resources and training for every employee to be prepared for any emergency that might arise.
Campaign donors: Butler has raised just under $40,000 for her campaign. Her biggest donors include real estate developer Vestcor, the Jacksonville Association of Firefighters and Duval Teachers United.
Butler’s opponent, James “Coach” Jacobs, has run for School Board and Jacksonville City Council before.
Documents received through a public records request show he was employed by Charter Schools USA at a number of area schools before he resigned in June. When reached by phone, he said he’s currently a dean of students but declined to disclose where. He also declined to conduct a full interview for this story. Candidates for public office are required to submit paperwork to the Supervisor of Elections that include questions about their income sources and financial interests. Jacobs left those questions blank.
Campaign donors: Jacobs has raised nearly $18,000. His donors include the K-12 school service provider Outreach Education LLC, as well as at-large Jacksonville City Council member Matt Carlucci and past City Council member Reggie Gaffney.
District 2: Donovan Bradley vs. Donna Mae Westrich
At the Beaches, Donna Mae Westrich has herself been a teacher for more than 20 years. Locally, she worked at a charter school and most recently as a science teacher at the district’s Fletcher High School.
She’s quick to highlight the new band uniforms Fletcher was able to purchase with the 1-mill revenue.
“Teachers have been relying on that…stipend on top of their salary for the last four years, and it’s already built into their budget,” she tells Jacksonville Today. She says if the 1-mill doesn’t pass, it gives every teacher a pay cut.
Westrich says her biggest concerns for DCPS are funding and student safety, including funding for weapons-detection systems.
Campaign donors: Westrich has raised $28,764 for her campaign. Her top donors include a political committee tied to the Florida Democratic Party as well as teachers’ unions and the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors.
Her opponent, 26-year-old Republican political strategist Donovan Bradley, says that ideally, Duval Schools would not need the extra tax revenue and instead would raise teacher salaries from its existing budget. But, he supports the 1-mill because the district isn’t “in a position to do that right this second.”
Campaign donors: Bradley, a Fletcher High School grad, has raised more than $108,000 — 76 of his donors who gave the max amount, $1,000, include political committees tied to the Republican Party and real estate developer Vestcor.
Bradley says his platform includes expanding opportunities for students who don’t want to go to college and using less technology in classrooms.
District 6: Lindsey Denmark vs. Clarence “CJ” James
On the Westside, the two candidates are split on the tax extension. C.J. James, a sergeant with the Duval County School Police and a retired Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office lieutenant, supports the 1-mill.
“If that doesn’t pass, that is going to be very cumbersome on the district,” he tells Jacksonville Today. “Very cumbersome.”
Teachers already depend on the salary supplement to pay for necessities.
“And we’re just going to snatch that away from them? No, the voters spoke the first time,” James says.
James says school safety is his top priority. He supports a current proposal for school staff to be allowed to keep guns in their cars on campus. He says that he’d also like to closely examine the district’s contracts to “make sure we’re getting a good ROI.” He’d like to work on addressing why air conditioning keeps going out in schools and evaluating the big-picture projects in the district’s master plan.
Campaign donors: James has raised more than $117,000 for his campaign. His biggest donors include political committees tied to police unions, as well as local real estate developers Michael Balanky of Chase Properties and Sleiman Holdings.
James’ opponent, Lindsey Denmark, a real estate agent, opposes the 1-mill referendum.
“It’s not that I don’t want them to have it. Of course we want our teachers to be paid as much as we can give them…but, if it doesn’t pass, it’s going to force the hand of the district to make some changes, and I don’t think that would be a bad thing,” she tells Jacksonville Today.
Denmark, who homeschools her son, says that while campaigning, she’s heard “over and over again that families are pulling their children out because they’re worried about discipline.” She says she’s “thankful for school choice in the state of Florida because it gives parents the opportunity to choose what is best for their student.”
She volunteers with kids in her community through her church and says she wants to “make sure they’re all getting the best education possible.”
“Just because their parents aren’t able to — they don’t want to make another choice — doesn’t mean they need to get any lesser education. Our public education system needs to be fantastic,” Denmark says. “I’m very, very passionate about their education and making sure that they have what they need.”
And as a Realtor, she says a quality public school system is important to the community.
“I want our public education system to thrive because when it thrives, our community thrives,” she says.
Like her opponent, Denmark also allows changing district policy to allow staff to keep guns in their cars. A gun found in the car of the Baldwin Middle Senior High principal got him removed from his job earlier this year. The school is in District 6.
Campaign donors: Denmark has raised more than $121,000 for her campaign. Her biggest donors include a Tallahassee PAC called True Conservatives, as well as the housing developer Vestcor. She’s also raised $25,000 for her Friends of Lindsey Denmark political committee. Her PAC donors also include True Conservatives, as well as the J.B. Coxwell construction company.
Early voting in Duval County runs through Sunday, Nov. 1, and Election Day is Tuesday. Check out the Jacksonville Today 2026 Duval County Voter Guide to learn more about the candidates.
Reader-supported election coverage
Help fund the next voter guide.
Every candidate on your ballot receives the same questions from us.
We publish their answers word for word.
We name the candidates who never respond.
Make a donation to support this work.
