Fearing the havoc that an anticipated increase in health care costs as high as 30 percent or more would have on their household budgets, Baker County teachers made an unusual public plea to the school board for across-the-board pay raises this week.

The president of the teacher union, Westside Elementary School teacher Angela Callahan, led a small contingent of classroom instructors to the board meeting on the evening of May 6 to discuss their concerns.

“What we’re hearing is the increase could be 32 to 35 percent,” Mrs. Callahan said, standing in the Olustee Volunteer Fire Station where the meeting was held. “That is a catastrophic decrease to our salaries.”

With $860 in “take home pay” every two weeks, she said, such an additional burden would be “catastrophic on me and my family.”

She said her premium, which covers health insurance for herself and her children, is about $500 monthly. If premiums are hiked an additional 30 percent she would have to fork over another $150 a month in the coming school year. She then hinted that more teachers may decide to leave the profession they love because they can’t afford to stay in it.