SOUTH BEND — Nearly 100 South Bend teachers made a public plea for a new contract Monday night. They've been working without one since August.

Teachers even got support from school board members. Many wore red in support of the teachers. It's the board's responsibility to approve the contract, not negotiate it. They say they've been waiting to hear from Superintendent Robert Zimmerman about the status of negotiations for months.

Zimmerman says negotiations are slow, but he hopes to have a contract soon.

"They deserve a lot more than they get," said Jimmy Misener, a student.

He should know.

"My mom is a teacher. She works really hard. Actually, she gets out 45 minutes before me, and she's always the last one to pick me up because she's helping students," he said.

Now teachers are asking for help.

"Teacher raises for the last five years have been 1 percent. Inflation has been 3 percent," said Carolyn Peterson, president of the local National Education Association.

"It is very hard. My wife works full time. I work full time, and on top of that, I also have a second job," said Jason Zook, vice president of National Education Association and a Brown Intermediate School teacher.

Teachers took their message from the streets to the school board meeting.

"I want a fair contract," said one teacher after another as they took the podium.

School board members joined the cause by wearing red.

"I'm very disappointed you don't have your contract already. It should have happened a long time ago," said Sheila Bergeron, school board president.

The negotiation process is a mystery to many.

"We haven't had any updates since January," said Bergeron.

Zimmerman says limited finances are slowing negotiations.

"You've got to constantly look at priorities within the school corporation. How can we move money into things without ruining programs we have in other places," he said.

Like others, he's hoping for a contract before graduation.

"We think it would be a great way to wrap up the year," said Zimmerman.

South Bend teachers did strike in 1994. The union president says she hopes it doesn't come down to that.

School board members and teachers say there is a lot of pressure on school administrators to negotiate a new contract soon because it's hard to create a budget and hire new teachers without one.