Detroit School District employees Forced To Take 10+% pay Decrease

In Detroit, their school system is a total mess and it has been for many, many years. I have worked with many teachers from Detroit and the one thing they have in common is they say the Detroit school district just sucks.
From the Detroit Free Press: A month after warning union workers that they would see a 10% wage cut next school year, Roy Roberts, the emergency manager for Detroit Public Schools, signed executive orders Friday that impose $81 million in wage concessions on workers starting in August.
Union leaders called the new law an attempt to bust public unions and pledged to fight for their contracts in court.
I'm not taking this lying down," said Keith Johnson, president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers.
All 10,000 workers in the district -- union and nonunion, including Roberts -- will see a 10% cut in their paychecks starting Aug. 23. They will begin to pay 20% of health care benefits costs Sept. 1.
The decision marks the first time that Public Act 4 of 2011 -- the new emergency manager law -- has been used to modify school employee collective bargaining agreements.
http://www.freep.com/article/20110730/NEWS02/107300398/Detroit-Public-Schools-workers-see-10-pay-cut?odyssey=modnewswelltextFRONTPAGEs

I am torn on this issue. One side, the Detroit schools have been horribly managed throughout the years, and the District has seen more than it's share of corruption by the managers of the school district. It doesn't seem fair that teachers and other employees have to suffer because of the sins of others before them.
On the other hand, most employees of the District have been given a pass on their contracts in the past and now it is time to pay the reaper, so to speak. The District needs to get it's act together and if the teachers and other employees don't want to step up to the plate and make concessions during this time of need, then they have little to complain about.
My view on the CCSD budget is that there is plenty of fat in the budget and it would be unfair that employees have to take a pay cut while there is still plenty of fat in the budget. So, I would be against any concession regarding pay unless the fat is cut out of the budget. If CCSD can demonstrate that there is no fat in the budget, then we can talk about concessions.