Pines charter teachers and city at impasse

An impasse has been declared in the contract negotiations between the Broward Teachers Union and the city of Pembroke Pines over raises for 359 charter school teachers.

The discussion between the city’s legal team and union representatives was terse and peppered with comments from the crowd of about 120 teachers who showed up at City Hall for the public meeting.

The union is seeking a $1,500 raise for all teachers and a one-time bonus of $500 for teachers with exceptional status. Most Broward School District teachers received a $2,000 raise this year.

“We are talking about money that these teachers deserve because most of them haven’t had a raise in years and some actually saw their pay cut,” said union president Anna Fusco.

The city agreed to the $500 bonus but not the $1,500 raise and countered with a lower amount of $1,000.

“This represents our last and best offer,” said Jim Cherof, the city’s attorney.

The union called the city’s proposal a bad faith offer that had been previously rejected and then called an impasse.

Pembroke Pines owns and runs its own charter school system, with four elementary schools, two middle schools and a high school. The system is Arated.

After the negotiation meeting, the teachers and union representatives went to the Mayor’s Cafe and Bagel Emporium to talk with Pines Mayor Frank Ortis, who owns the eatery.

Ortis walked outside to the crowd of teachers, who asked why the city isn’t considering using reserves to pay for the raises, Ortis said that reserves are currently too low to dip into.

Teacher Angela Edgar said her pay has been frozen at $39,500, her starting salary from 2009.

“I can’t hold on much longer with that. I’ve already gone to college to get another degree, and then I’m out the door,” Edgar said.

Last month, Gov. Rick Scott signed a K-12 public education bill that will give charter schools in Broward County an extra $12 million this year, but that won’t affect current negotiations.