A state judge today approved back pay worth more than $14 million for about 10,000 substitute teachers who are the center of a decade-long lawsuit alleging the state underpaid them for years, the Star-Advertiserreports. 

The decision likely marks one of the last developments in a legal battle that traces back to 2002, when the class-action suit was filed. The $14 million accounts for daily wages that the court rules teachers are owed by the state.

The Attorney General’s office has said teachers can expect their paychecks next March at the earliest. 

In the lawsuit, the teachers alleged that the state broke a law pegging substitute teacher wage rates to those earned by what are known as Class II teachers. But the money actually doled out to substitute teachers did not parallel that given to the Class II teachers. 

The Star-Advertiser’s story can be found here (subscription required).

Photo courtesy of 401K 2013 via Flickr

— Alia Wong