Government scrambling for money for teacher raises before new academic year

Two weeks before the start of the academic year, it is not yet clear whether all the teachers will receive the promised salary raises. The Education Ministry pledged to raise teacher's salary by an average of zl. 200, but a budgeting error caused a shortage of zl. 800 million, prompting the former Education Minister Miroslaw Handke to resign. The Ministry has so far raised zl. 570 million to give to local governments to pay teachers, but it is not yet clear if and how the remaining amount will be found. Labor unions have threatened to take the government to task if it defaults on paying the pledged salaries. (Gazeta Wyborcza, Aug. 19-20, page 3)