Mar 2, 2008 8:43 am US/Eastern
Miami Dade Teachers Rally Against Cuts
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
Miami-Dade teachers expressed their dismay over recent educational budget cuts and now over healthcare proposals that could lower their paychecks. They gathered on Saturday in Tropical Park to voice their dissent.
Earlier in the weeek, former Gov. Jeb Bush's top economic adviser joined Miami-Dade County's teachers union urging that lawmakers spend more on education, not less.
It was a white paper commissioned by United Teachers of Dade calling for a nonpartisan discussion of long-term issues and options.
In Tallahassee on Tuesday, the legislature will convene in regular session. It had already cut about $1-billion from the budget in October, including a $100 per student cut for public schools, and it is looking more spending reductions in the next fiscal year.
Lawmakers in Tallahassee were considering cutting the state's education budget anywhere from $125 million and $500 million because of a decrease in revenue.
Depending on the size of the cut, it could translate into a decrease of $15 million to $60 million for the Miami Dade district. A reduction of $15 million, according to the school district's business operations manager, could mean more than a thousand employees would have to be laid off.
To make up for some of the cuts, teachers are trying to negotiate a request that they take on a 13 percent increase in health care costs if the school district will no longer be subsidizing health insurance for educators' families.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Double Homicide In NW Miami-Dade
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
