Jun 29, 2008 11:29 pm US/Eastern
Union & School Officials Meet Over Raises
The School Board Must Have A Budget In Place July 1st.
Promised Raises May Not Happen After All
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
Miami-Dade Public School administrators and teachers clashed on Sunday as the school system sought to balance a budget that is more than a quarter of a billion dollars in the red.
Administrators have threatened to take away the teacher's contracted pay raise to help save some money. They believe it would save the system over $70 million.
Sunday's meeting left many teachers more confused than informed.
"We're just in awe, because we were in here, and it doesn't seem like anyone has a concrete answer for us yet," said teacher Felicia Lewis.
Blood pressure and disagreement went up on both sides during the entire session.
"We are here to find solutions. They want to characterize this as 'the district has the money they're withholding from us,' We don't have the money because we never got the money from Tallahassee," said Ofelia San Pedro from Miami-Dade Public Schools.
San Pedro also said the impending budget problems have had an effect on administrators like herself.
"Well, we've cut our salaries. What they're not thinking is that we went to a board meeting, and we all took a furlough. We all gave up days of pay. So, we have cut our salaries. I cut my salary five days. I also gave up my vehicle that was a benefit the district gave me."
Superintendent Rudy Crew was not at the public meeting on Sunday.
Faced with $250 million budget deficit for the 2008-2009 year, School Board members have approved a number of changes and the elimination 2-thousand positions in an effort to come up with a balanced budget.
During the last meeting on Wednesday, June 25th, the School Board determined that even with the job cuts and changes they've proposed the funding provided by the state would still be inadequate to support district operations for the 2008-2009 fiscal year.
According to a statement by the Miami Dade Public School system:
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. 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.
The United Teachers of Dade said when Superintendant Rudy Crew sent a letter to the union last Thursday canceling contractually agreed to salary increases for 39-thousand teachers he violated the school districts agreement with the union.
"This is legal trickery and beyond the Superintendent's authority. Crew and his accomplices can spin it, they can call it a freeze, a cut, a renegotiation - we call it for what it is -- theft." said UTD President Karen Aronowitz.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Golden Globes Winners, Fashions & Stars
Hurricane Ike Hits Texas Coast
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
