President Leonel Fernández gave a speech to open the school year on Monday, 6 September, but classes did not start as the Dominican Professors Association (ADP) called a two-day strike. An ADP spokesman said it has instructed its members to show up for classes on Wednesday, 8 September, instead. The ADP wants the government to pay pending teachers incentives in a lump sum, or RD$180 million. The government has offered to pay the moneys in monthly installments. Public school professors have had it good in the Fernández administration. The Fernández administration has invested millions to rescue a depressed and abandoned public school system. The government built a RD$37 million hospital to service teachers, plus more than doubled their salaries. When President Fernández took office in August 1996, professors made only slightly more than RD$4,000. Today, their salaries range between RD$9,000-RD$10,000 per month. Thus Cardinal Nicolás López Rodríguez called the strike an irresponsibility on their behalf. Some 246,240 new students enrolled in public schools this year, adding to the 1,227,000 new students that have entered public schools since 1996.
