Jun 27, 2008 11:13 pm US/Eastern
Dade Schools And Teachers Union Debate Salaries
By law, The School Board Must Have A Budget In Place
July 1st.
Promised Raises May Not Happen After All
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
United Teachers Of Dade said on Friday it would anticipate fighting any salary cuts that might be recommended by the Miami-Dade School Board. The union claims that guaranteed salaries for about 33,000 teachers and support staff could be jeopardized.
Union President Karen Aronowitz, at a press conference, mentioned that in addition to recommended salary adjustments, employees' salaries could also remain frozen, and said it was 'a violation of their contract' without negotiations.
The union said it hopes to meet further with school district members over the weekend, but in the meantime, many teachers are furious.
Kindergarten Teacher Monica Perez, who has been with the district for 11 years still earns under $40,000.
"You can't live that way," said Perez. "How do you do groceries now? How do you pay gas? How do you fill your pump when gas is at more than $4?"
Perez herself has children, and was counting on a recently negotiated raise that the district had promised would kick in next week.
But officials are saying that with extreme budget cuts, they are faced with the tough decision of cutting raises.
"The reality of it is, when you're looking at $72 million worth of salary increases, we at least have to take a look at that," said school board member Dr. Martin Karp.
John Schuster, chief communications officer for Miami-Dade County Public Schools, released the following statement over "salary negotiations":
"At its Wednesday, June 25, 2008, meeting the School Board determined that funding by the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP) is inadequate to support district operations for the 2008-2009 fiscal year. This action allowed the Superintendent to re-open salary negotiations with all bargaining units. At the same Board meeting, union members demanded to re-open negotiations immediately. As a result, the Superintendent sent letters and notified bargaining unit leaders by telephone that the District is now available to begin negotiations. The District's bargaining team is ready to begin negotiations and is planning to meet as early as Sunday, June 29, 2008, pending confirmation from the union.
The District has completed the analysis of all cost-saving suggestions provided by the unions and is prepared to discuss this information in detail with the unions. "
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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