Aronowitz turns down magistrate's recommendation on health insurance


UTD President Karen Aronowitz officially rejected the recommendation handed down by Special Magistrate Mark Lurie.  “We will never pit teacher against teacher in a plan that does not protect everyone,” Aronowitz said.

The magistrate's recommendation identified a group he called First Decade Teachers as the most vulnerable to the District's proposed offer and identified what changes could be made to help these teachers. 

The magistrate’s recommendation included: 

-    "First Decade Teachers" receive flex dollars eliminated under the School Board's plan;

-    "First Decade Teachers" do not pay the 13.1 percent increase for dependent care coverage;  

The magistrate also noted the “First Decade Teachers” had the least investment in seniority and would be compelled to seek employment elsewhere.  “The risk that the District runs from depriving the First Decade Teachers of financial oxygen is that some will succumb,” Lurie writes in his decision.

Eleven-year teachers and education support professionals would have to accept the District's original proposal with no recommended changes. 

“Our teachers and our Education Support Professionals must be this district’s top priority.  Unless teachers are in place, all the programs in the world will not educate our students,” Aronowitz said. “It takes teachers, and it takes this district making our teachers able to stay in Miami-Dade County.”

It is now up to the members of the School Board to reject or accept the magistrate's recommendation.

Teachers and education support professionals will continue to put pressure on the School Board at the next meeting Wednesday, April 16.

"We'll be there.  No matter where, no matter when," Aronowitz said.