Miami Dade Teachers fight for raise, new contract

On Oct. 11, the teacher’s union in Miami called for street rallies and protests to draw attention to its cause in front of the

Board of Educations meeting. The fervor of the teachers’ anger, after working more than three months without a contract, resulted in all day long pickets on busy street corners throughout the county—some beginning as early as 7 a.m. Several thousand demonstrated at the Board of Education hearing.

”I’m a single mom and I have to work a second job to help pay the bills. I’m in a constant state of worry. No matter how hard we work, it’s still not enough,” said Santa Melendez, a teacher at a street rally in southwest Miami.

Adorned in red t-shirts and homemade signs, Miami Dade teachers grabbed the media’s attention. Teachers have also called on stopping any other type of service they provide beyond minimum instruction in the classroom until a contract is signed. This would put a stop to weekend dances, homecoming festivals, tutoring and after school clubs.

”All teachers will stop offering any services beyond the expired contract’s minimum services—just classroom instruction and then, a closed dark room,” read the leaflet written and distributed by Shawn Beightol from Michael Krop Senior High.

The main issue in the contract negotiations is salary. Miami Dade teachers’ starting salary is below that of neighboring counties. Teachers—who have at least six years of higher education, often more—say that the $36,250 and $64,225 tenured salary proposed by the Board of Education last week are not commensurate with the teachers’ levels of education. Nor do they keep up with the rising cost of living.

”At this point we need to talk about what the salaries will be before we talk about the other issues,” explained President Karen Aronowitz of the United Teachers of Dade, representing 21,000 teachers. This will be the main thrust of collective bargaining on Oct. 19.

In addition, teachers want a contract that guarantees salary increases each year. Under previous contracts, salaries had to be renegotiated yearly.