Brevard County teachers, school board talk pay

VIERA, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Teachers are fighting for raises in Brevard County, protesting outside the school board meeting. The teachers are fired up and making sure the district knows it.

The school board meeting in Brevard County Tuesday night was more like a boxing match with teachers wearing matching shirts, rooting for themselves in the fight for better pay, cheering on anyone throwing a punch in their favor.

“You offered nothing. No solutions. Your teachers brought solutions offered and you blew them off.”

Several proposal have been tossed around, but both sides have still not come to an agreement on raises.

One teacher told FOX 35 she can’t afford her own place to live.

“We deserve more money because we work very, very, very, very, very hard. I've been teaching for 30 years. That's kind of a sad thing, that I can't afford a place of my own,” said teacher Michele Deane.

The district says the cost came down to teachers or safety.

“The problem in Brevard and in a lot of school districts is that the revenue that we made that would go towards teachers raises went to school security mainly after the Parkland situation and with what we have left, we're trying to make it go as far as we can,” said Brevard School District Assistant Superintendent Matt Reed.

But teachers still aren’t satisfied. Under Florida law, no teacher strikes are allowed so they demonstrated outside and spoke united inside.

“To say that we do this just for love and kisses is kind of silly. We have families. you can't say that you're supporting everybody else's children and you can't send your own to college,” said teacher Susan Chyszewski.

There was no final decision made at Tuesday’s meeting. Both sides will make their case in front of a magistrate, but there’s no date set for that yet.