No raises?

Fresh off a Legislative Budget Commission meeting this afternoon, Sen. Stephen Wise - who also chairs the Pre-K-12 Education Appropriations Committee - had little good news for schools.

"Just trying to keep our student allocation on the positive side is going to be very, very difficult," Wise told the Gradebook, suggesting that the one saving grace might be yet another reduction in the number of students coming into Florida.

The upshot?

"I don't believe that very many school districts will be able to give raises because of where we are financially," Wise cautioned.

Comments

[Ann E. Mouse]

We have barely had a cost of living increase. Yes, in Hillsborough County salaries went up this year, but so did the workload. A "raise" is more money for the same job. Given the rate of inflation is 3.4% and teachers workloads have increased by 20% this year, I don't think what we have gotten can be called a "raise" at all.

MIAMI -- A review of records found some surprising math for many employees in the Miami-Dade School District.

Local 10 has learned through a report from the Sate of Florida Auditor General that more than 400 district workers in 2006 earned more than $100,000, and the total amount of overtime spent by the school district totaled $26 million.

The list of names filled 14 pages of a computer printout compared to just two pages for the slightly smaller district of Broward County employees who made at least $100,000 that same year, Local 10's Julie Summers reported.

The report stated that the "extensive and continued" payments of overtime in the Miami-Dade County School District has a "negative effect on district operations."

A closer look at some of the overtime and additional income the school system spent included a refrigeration mechanic whose salary range maxed out at about $59,588 for 2006, but who earned $111,158, according to the report. The report states the mechanic worked 1,250 hours of overtime and made almost as much in overtime as he did his regular base pay. The report shows his overtime pay was $51,570.

In another instance, a zone mechanic whose total base wages were $59,784 made $42,849 in overtime for working 1,033 hours.

Although not in the six-figure ballpark, other findings in the report were a bus driver who made more overtime wages than the person's annual salary. The bus driver worked 1,130 hours of overtime, according to the report. The driver's base wages were $25,500, but the driver made $30,747 in overtime, making $56,247 for the year.

A high school registrar with total base wages of $46,441 worked 962 hours of overtime adding $31,375 to the bankroll for total wages of $77,816.

Teachers, however, are being kept out of the big money loop. Local 10's investigation revealed that less than 1 percent of the $100,000 earners actually taught in the classroom.

"We need to be able to pay teachers enough that they can live on, and that they can stay in the community. And yet we find money for administrators, for secretary's overtime. And yet we don't have enough money to pay the same kind of salaries to teachers," said Dr. Marta Perez, a Miami-Dade School board member.

The report faulted the school district for the excessive overtime concluding that "the staff analysis did not indicate whether other alternatives to overtime were considered such as using part-time employment, rotating shifts, and outsourcing.

In the midst of all this, Superintendent Rudy Crew has proposed closing schools next year and selling land the school owns, Summers reported.

John Schuster, a district representative for Miami-Dade Public Schools told Local 10 that the overtime was necessary due to a hiring freeze and he also insisted that none of the spending was inappropriate.

Other areas of questionable spending in the report included how money for school vehicles was spent, misspending on food and cellular telephone bills.

The district has 30 days to respond to the preliminary report Depending on their response, the auditor general will then issue a final report, according to Summers.

Copyright 2008 by Local10.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[Suzie Creamcheese]

Really, who didn't see this coming?

Teachers don't go into teaching to get rich. When they don't work they don't get paid.

Between inflation, real estate taxes and insurance they are losing ground and really cutting back on everything.

The district can not recruit enough rookies to fill in the gap. Those that do sign on are soon disillusioned and start looking for a way to better money.

The dwindling pool of certified applicants is rapidly creating a labor problem. Hopefully those being downsized can be brought on board to fill in the gap.

[John]

Please pay attention to which legislator suggests a payraise for the legislature. And, the ones who vote in favor of politicians being given pay raises.

[Concerned]

Ammendment 1 anyone??? As long as our "respected" elected leaders do not respect the terrific and dedicated teachers Florida, this will be the case. Tax cuts for the wealthy and for big business....teachers and students get short changed again. Where is the world class workforce (through education) we were promised??