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"Suggestions have been given by the United Teachers of Dade, 59 to be exact, which will give cost saving measures to the district," said Beverly Dowell, with UTD.  "As you've heard this morning, they have not looked at it, and they have not accepted it."

The teachers are fighting for that pay raise promised in their contract. UTD is demanding the Miami-Dade School District honor their contract and give them a pay raise that was supposed to go into effect the first week of July.

However, in an effort to shave $70-million off the 2008-2009 fiscal years budget, Miami-Dade public school administrators used a loophole in their contract with UTD to cancel a contractually agreed upon pay increase and open new negotiations.

Seth Patterson and his wife, both music teachers, showed up at a meeting last week and were among the many teachers upset.

"How are we supposed to stay here in the State of Florida, and have children and be able to afford it with so much going on, when other states are offering much more competitive salaries," said Patterson.

Last weekend, tempers also flared as school board members met with union representatives and teachers to discuss the options available. At one point, board members walked out of the meeting. 

Faced with $250-million budget deficit for the 2008-2009 year, school board members have approved a number of changes and the elimination 2,000 positions in an effort to come up with a balanced budget.

During their meetings on 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 Superintendent Rudy Crew sent a letter to the union canceling contractually agreed salary increases for 39,000 teachers that were supposed to go into effect on July 1st, he violated the school districts agreement with the union.

"This is legal trickery," said UTD President Karen Aronowitz.