Nov 3, 2008 1:12 pm US/Eastern
Teacher's Fight Over Raises Put On Hold
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
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Teachers wearing red shirts listen as lawyer for their union and from the school district argue over promised raises.
CBS
Representatives of the United Teachers of Dade have gone before a Special Magistrate in their fight over promised pay raises.
Dozens of teachers dressed in red t-shirts had hoped the hearing Monday morning at the Miami Dade School Board would get the ball rolling in their fight for their annual pay raise that was supposed to take place last July.
They have been waiting for a resolution ever since former Superintendant Rudy Crew said the district did not have the $72 million needed to award the raises due to State budget cuts.
The magistrate listened to attorneys from both sides after the school district's attorney asked for a continuance due to changes in the budget and a change in leadership.
Miami-Dade Public Schools' labor lawyer Chris Kurtz argued that to proceed with the matter would be a disservice to everyone.
"The district's budget has changed so much in the last few weeks since it was approved last September and since it was amended," said Kurtz. "So much so, that we will have to have a budget workshop and a formal budget resolution or amendment."
United Teachers of Dade attorney Mark Richards disagreed.
"So why are they doing this? They are doing this because the new Superintendant is calling the budget a 'train wreck'. At best they are incompetent, at worst it's fraud," said Richards.
After listening to both sides of the issue, the Special Magistrate rescheduled the hearing on the matter for December 15th and 16th.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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