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Orange County school board hearing tonight on teachers union, district negotiations

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The Orange County School Board will begin its final debate Thursday on a controversial deal involving thousands of teachers.

The school board will act as judges and resolve a contract dispute between the teachers union and the school district, who have been negotiating for months.

The legislature and Gov. Rick Scott approved pay raises and it was up to the bargaining team and district to work out the details, but disagreements with the district and union have delayed pay raises for thousands of teachers.

Thursday's hearing will focus on all aspects of the contract that haven't been resolved.

The current proposal affects 13,000 teachers and has two main sticking points, including the $2,000 raises.

The union also opposes how the district wants to tie teacher pay to student performance even before a state law on the issue goes into effect.

"We've got two issues: performance pay being able to have our test tied to our own students and accountability system that's fair and transparent, which we're not there yet, and having the salary increases," said Diana Moore of the teachers association.

Channel 9 will be covering this story throughout the evening. Stay with WFTV.com and tune in to Eyewitness News for continuous updates.