Teachers sick-out to protest charter school pay cut

Teachers at a Baton Rouge charter school staged a sick-out on Wednesday to protest a 20 percent pay cut imposed by the board that runs the school.

Crestworth Learning Academy, which is operated by Mount Pilgrim Baptist Church, is apparently facing a budget crisis because of low pupil enrolment.

Teachers say they will lose between $400 and $80 per paycheck because of the decision. They are also being removed from the Teachers Retirement System of Louisiana, which will affect retirement plans.

Neither the principal of the school nor spokesmen for the church would speak to reporter Kiran Chawla, who filed this report for WAFB-TV.