Miami-Dade teachers union members approve new contract

Miami-Dade County teachers, school security guards and other school workers approved a new contract Tuesday in a 61 percent to 39 percent vote.

United Teachers of Dade President Fedrick Ingram conceded a “not insignificant” portion of teachers rejected the contract, but shifted the blame largely to Tallahassee.

“I believe that locally we have done as well as we can do,” he said Tuesday after the votes were tallied. “People need to understand we hear them and we have to continue the fight.”

The contract includes average pay raises of 3 percent for teachers. Healthcare costs will remain the same or go down, depending on the plan an employee chooses.

Ingram said a state mandate to tie teacher pay to evaluations led to unpopular changes in the contract. He said the union “firmly” disagrees with the requirement and will continue to lobby for changes in state law.

The compensation and benefits package negotiated by UTD and Miami-Dade County Public Schools is worth $52 million and covers about 30,000 employees.

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This story was originally published September 8, 2015 at 9:23 PM with the headline "Miami-Dade teachers union members approve new contract."