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WPEC-TV CBS12 News :: News - Treasure Coast News - Contract Tossed: Martin County teachers on edge

Contract Tossed: Martin County teachers on edge

MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. -- The Martin County school board balks at the last minute, sending 1,400 teachers into summer without the promised paycheck they agreed to. In a CBS 12 exclusive, we go one-on-one with the superintendent to find out what went wrong.

27 teacher contract negotiations. A dozen executive sessions. Agreement in hand.

"You were there, everybody sitting here was there and as far as I'm concerned you cannot do that."

Then three school board members vote down the contract.

"It was negotiated upon."

"There was not consensus."

"So bad and so inappropriate."

Pam Kessler/Martin County Education Association: Extremely shocked, extremely shocked.

The Martin County Teachers Union calls the vote unethical.

Pam Kessler/Martin County Education Association: We have really been used as pawns right now, and that's the way we feel. Like our contract has been used to further other people's political aspirations.

A heated race for superintendent may be to blame, says incumbent superintendent Nancy Kline.

CBS 12: Do you think this is political?

Nancy Kline/Superintendent: Probably. All of a sudden at the eleventh hour we say wait, hold off, we're not going to be funding this, we're not going to approve it. It was pretty inappropriate. I think its unprecedented.

The un-ratified agreement means the union can sue the board. It also means teachers expecting an agreed-upon retroactive raise this month won't get it.

Pam Kessler/Martin County Education Association: Of course teachers that are new hires are concerned.

CBS 12: People think they'll lose their jobs.

Pam Kessler/Martin County Education Association: They may. Exactly that's the first thing they're thinking. They won't ratify our contract so are they going to fire us?

The board wants the superintendent to cut $1.8 million from the budget in the next two weeks. Kline says there's no room to cut without cutting people.

Nancy Kline/Superintendent: 85-percent of our operating budget is payroll.

Kline refuses to present the board with a budget that cuts teachers. She wants the contract negotiated in good faith approved.

Nancy Kline/Superintendent:  27 negotiation sessions. We had a deal.

Pam Kessler/Martin County Education Association: Its not ethical. It's making a promise and backing out on it. That would not be tolerated from any of the teachers. This is unacceptable, completely unacceptable. There has never, this has never happened before.

The school board meets again to discuss the new contract in two weeks. The union is trying to decide if by then they should sue the district for their promised raise.Contract Tossed: Martin County teachers on edge

Friday, June 8 2012, 08:19 PM EDT

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