From the Harford County Education Association:
Labor Board Rules on Renegotiations
Thursday November 17, HCEA was handed a huge win from the Labor Board supporting our collective bargaining rights. Specifically, the Labor Board determined renegotiations did not occur consistent with the principles of good faith bargaining; therefore, the parties have been ordered back to the bargaining table as demanded by HCEA. Before returning, however, the Labor Board has asked that the parties brief the question of what funds are to be utilized to meet the negotiated agreement. This process will be overseen by the Labor Board.
HCEA is happy that additional funding is available, as announced by the County Executive, for our teachers and wants to make sure that the funds are distributed through the collective bargaining process. If we allow the County Executive to circumvent the bargaining law and issue “bonuses” we are diminishing the win before the Labor Board and eroding our rights under the law as well as our ability to fund the negotiated agreement. The County Executive’s proposal to bypass the Board of Education and collective bargaining sets a very dangerous precedent for the future. Such a precedent would mean a much-reduced voice for educators in determining pay scales and health benefits. By agreeing to the conditions set forth by the County Executive, HCEA would be going outside of the very bargaining laws that we’ve fought so very hard to enforce AND, in fact, we now clearly have a Labor Board that supports our efforts to enforce those laws.
We must support the collective bargaining process, which provides us with compensation and benefits in a way that is fair, dependable, and has the input of employees. As we’ve seen in Wisconsin, Ohio, and other places across the nation, this is just another attempt to divide employees and strip us of our collective power. The tactics of the County Executive are nothing more than an effort to buy us off and take control from us. HCEA is committed to fighting for an equitable and legal distribution of these funds. Additionally, HCEA is committed to fighting for the original agreement made between the union and the Board of Education in January, which thus far has been a string of broken promises by the Board of Education due to the county’s underfunding.
For all of those that said teachers should not recieve salary increases because the money isn’t there now have to come up with another excuse. HCPS has an extra 11 million and the County Government has 30+ million. It’s funny that 10 years ago the people who thought becoming a teacher was a waste of time beacause they are paid so little are now the same people who are doing everything they can to prevent teachers from getting a “bonus” and a step increase. I hear pretty regularly that teachers are overpaid and have great benefits. Really? Where were these people 10 years ago and why aren’t they coming out of the woodwork to become teachers?
They are. More kids are graduating college with education degrees than can find jobs.
And why do you think these kids can’t find teaching jobs? Do you think it has to do with the fact that local governments are cutting school system budgets resulting in fewer teaching jobs? My point is that teachers are grossly underpaid and many people want to obtain the services teachers provide at a lower cost. The only reason I can think of as to why kids are going to college to become teachers is because they think it will provide them with job security. I think we are all finding out that is not going to be the case in a few years.
Now, again I ask, what excuses are there not to provide Harford County teachers with their step increases that they have not received in the last 3 years? The money is there. Is that you hurt so you want teachers to hurt? Teachers have been hurting. Many teachers I know now have had to take on part time jobs and many are leaving the county. The effects of this will be felt I’m guessing in about 5 years as the County is no longer performing as succssfully as it has. Taxpayers will get the education system they pay for.
As for unions, of course unions want what is best for their members, but it is up to the government to not give them everything they want. Are the politicians in the pockets of the unions? the corporations? Only if the people elect those politicians. It’s not the unions’ or the corporations’ fault the politicians behave the way they do. It’s the systems fault for allowing them to give the money that they do.
Anyways, give teachers there f(*)^&^$% raises!
After talking to a friend who works for the post office, people should be really talking about those unions. People making $26.00 – $30.00/hour with just a high school education. They make more than teachers. Great benefits too. Union always in the middle of benefit negotiations and raises for those employees and they are in the hole financially. It is truly outrageous.
And you think a living wage is bad? This just show how little teachers make. Remember they are required to have an earned master’s degree. Have any idea how much that costs?
This isn’t a report, it is union propaganda. The same “article” was sent out to teachers on Friday. Where is the report and what did it really say? I don’t want to hear it from HCEA I want read it myself.
If you are in the HCEA, just go down to the office and ask to read it.
Unions are what made this a great country and created the middle class. Before workers were represented by unions, corporations ignored safety and working conditions: there were children workers, company stores, 16 hour days, no overtime, no benefits, and sexual harassment (Just imagine a Herman Cain in every workplace were your wives and daughters work.) We were a nation of disposable units before unions. Unions humanized the workplace.
This is why corporations and their GOP/Tea Party minions are working so remorselessly to eliminate unions today. I will never understand people who argue so strenuously for a party that works against them. Why would they want workplaces that are unsafe and designed to maximize profits at worker’s expense? Why do you think there are so many undocumented workers in so many corporations with the GOP doing all it can to continue this exploitation? It is because illegal workers can not belong to a union (you must be legal to join). It is how businesses bust unions and steal from you.
Keep your thoughts in mind as the pensions,etc. negotiated by government unions who have financed many of the campaigns of the people they are negotiating with, bankrupt the local, state and federal governments.
That is the reason why you had Wisconsin. The current structure was unsustainable and had to be changed.
This is not Wisconson. Maryland’s Pension is far more sustainable and is frequently used to lend money to balance the budget. For example the Baltimore City fire pension is in trouble because the City took money out during the good economy and does not have the money now to pay it back when it is needed!
Union campaign contributions pale in comparison to those of corporate “persons” and anonymous PACs. That said, I wholeheartedly support campaign financing/lobbiest reform -across the board- that would level the playing field and allow more and better leadership material to run for office. Such reform would remove the corruption and cronyism that cripples our “representative’ government. It would also free up a pile of capital for businesses and unions to invest in jobs, improved working conditions and continuous employee education and retraining.
Unions killed the steel, auto, and textile industries, too. The best answer is somewhere in between.
PB: You say this because…
Pick an industry — how about auto? Unions drove the wages up high enough to kill their golden goose. Union wages in the $70s per hour, while the Asians are in the $40s. ( They’re arguably producing better cars at lower prices, but that’s a matter of opinion. )
There’s not a *single* unionized industry in our country that’s not destroyed or on the way down.
http://chryslerlabortalks07.com/Economic_Data.pdf
I am going to admit in advance that I am not particularly savvy when it comes to these matters. But IF the county was found by the labor board to be negotiating in bad faith, and IF the county has 11 million dollars in surplus after saying there was no money for raises…doesn’t that mean that they already look like the villain to the labor board? And if they do, shouldn’t they negotiate NOW? I mean, they could probably get a better deal negotiating with the teachers than they would if the labor board made a binding decision…right? Again, I am not sure how this works. My issue is not with a teacher raise. I think that at this point teachers would settle for much less than an O’Malley appointed labor board would be prepared to demand in light of such a surplus…right? Isn’t that how this new process will work? Feel free to correct me if I am misreading the situation.
According to the law HCPS has to renegotiate the contract using the availible funds. If they can not reach a decision then the labor board will tell them how to spend it!
I’m not so sure you’re right CDEV. The labor board can only dictate that HCPS and HCEA have to renegotiate with those funds on the table. HCPS can decide to use those funds however they see fit. HCEA can then decide to not ratify a new contract that does include any salary increases. Then we get back to the exact same spot we currently are, except now we know that HCPS has the money to fund teacher salary steps. The most important thing though is now taxpayers should be concerned on many levels that number 1, someone in HCPS is either incompetent and doesn’t know how to balance their budget or at least hide excess funds, number 2 that same person cost taxpayers thousands of dollars in lawyer fees to renegotiate a contract that was originally negotiated in bad faith, and 3 that there are 11 million dollars of excess tax dollars (on top of the 30+ million that county government has)that could have been spent any number of things, including teacher salary steps. Someone should definitely lose their job over this. Dr. Tomback???
Yes and if HCEA is unhappy with the offer from the BOE and feels they did not act in good faith again they can take it to the labor board for binding arbitration. HCPS will look poor having already negotiated in bad faith once!
Remember HCPS did agree to terms with a step in them and then came back with we don’t have the money and the county council said they didn’t either. Clearly this was not the case!!!!
I hope it doesn’t come to another round of arbitration! Although I’m betting there are a lot of taxpayers who would rather waste tax dollars and go through arbitration again then give teachers a salary step increase with the money that is already there to provide for it. I can’t believe I haven’t lost hope yet, but this might be what does it.
The current budget and negotiated contracts were only approved on a four to three vote by the old school board. Maybe some on that board knew that the county wouldn’t fund the budget request and voted against it. That could mean they were being honest enough to not vote for something that was not going to happen. I remember there was some effort on the school board to change parts of the budget that would have minimized the excess funds the school system now holds but those suggestions were rejected by the majority. Maybe with so many new members on the school board things might be different with the next budget.
Why is it always about the teachers? It’s always we need more money, we need more money. The BOE already gets over 50% of the county budget and is our education system any better? I wish I had to only work 9 months out of the year. Also it hasn’t been 3 years since they had a raise either.
The BOE does not get even 50% of the budget. Taken from the County Executive’s 2011-12 budget:Education $229,324,489 48%. Minus the 2.1 million that was given back. It is not always about the teachers. It is about honoring our contract and not deceiving us.
“Why is it always about the teachers?” – I didn’t realize it was. I hear more and more from those like you about taxpayers wanting to pay less for the services they receive. Teachers are tired of being undervalued and disrespected. In the end, you will get the education system you pay for.
“is our education system any better?” – Are you talking about HCPS? Because HCPS is one of the best school systems in the state and Maryland has been ranked the best in the country for a couple of years. So…..yes it is…..with most of that success being carried on the backs of teachers that have been grossly underpaid compared to neighboring counties.
“I wish I had to only work 9 months out of the year.” – Well, I guess technically teachers only work 9 months, but do you want teachers to work 12 months? Really? You want to pay for that? Or do you want teachers to do more for less? I’m sure the education system will do real well under those conditions. And….if you think working 9 months is so great, why don’t you teach?
“Also it hasn’t been 3 years since they had a raise either.” – This is the third school year in a row that teachers have not been given a salary step. The school year is not over yet, but I doubt teachers will be getting a salary step before the end of the year. If that happens, then the $6,000 dollars more (instead of $12,000 more) I could have made the last 2 years will be all I’m short. That is a ridiculous amount of money for taxpayers to have to pony up. Seriously, when HCPS has 11 million dollars of excess funds after it lied and told teachers it wanted to give them salary steps but couldn’t afford them?
ummm…technically the school year is now well into June and they go back in late August. The teachers stay longer than the students and return before them. So, they report for duty closer to ten months, not nine.
OVERTAXED: The value of your property is directly correlated to the quality of the schools. The better the schools, the more it is worth. Want to see you home go underwater, devalue the schools.
Of course it is about teachers, who else teaches? If teachers work “only nine months” their bills are due for twelve months. Do you think someone else pays for them during the summer? Even though most teachers must work two jobs in order to survive, second jobs are not forthcoming while the bills are. You would not be grousing about teachers if you still had children in school.
Housing values are determined by supply and demand. While the quality of schools does have an impact increasing the amount of money spent on public schools doesn’t mean the quality goes up.
Teachers in Harford can take their school year salary over 12 months or through the school year and budget for the summer months.
Yes Paul, demand is determined by the quality of the schools in which the house is located. The quality of the schools is determined by the quality of the teacher (as well as of the parent.) The quality of the teacher is determined (at least for starting teachers) by the quality of life afforded by the salary. Therefore, I see a direct correlation between salary, confidence that the BOE will act fairly and the quality of Harford County.
Spending more money on schools has not improved the quality of education, but higher property taxes certainly lowers home values.
Spending more on teacher pay will not improve educational outcomes.
Additionally, you and many other posters believe that we have a great teachers in Harford County, but at the same time you argue that we need to pay more to get better teachers to get better educational outcomes.
So which is it do we have great teachers or do we need better ones?
PAUL: “Spending more money on schools has not improved the quality of education” What is this statement based on? How could you possible know this? Are you saying that having top notch teachers, new textbooks, safe new buildings, working computers and an infrastructure do not matter?
“but higher property taxes certainly lowers home values.” We are not talking about raising property taxes, but spending existing monies. That is a red herring.
“Spending more on teacher pay will not improve educational outcomes.“ Better teachers will improve educational outcomes. You get what you pay for in this world.
“…you and many other posters believe that we have a great teachers in Harford County, but at the same time you argue that we need to pay more to get better teachers.” We do have great teachers in this county, however as they age they retire. We need to replace them with teachers of the same quality. Why would a new teacher want to work here with a dysfunctional and unreliable administration when they could work somewhere else?
Like I said, want your house to go underwater – wreak the schools? It is simple economics; the value of your home is directly tied into how people perceive the quality of the schools. Tax liability is not even considered when a family decides where to buy: all they care about is the school Johnny will attend.
correct that is not the issue here. Essentially HCPS bargined a contract with it’s teachers and the county govt and HCPS had no intention of honoring it. They lied and where decitful they said they did not have the 16 million to honor the deal they made when infact we know they had over 40 million to honor it with (32 million from the county and 11 million in the existing HCPS budget!)
Paul,
You are incorrect regarding how HCPS teachers are paid. Teachers have not been able to be paid over 12 months for about the last 10 years. Teachers must budget for the summer.
Mea culpa, they must budget. It’s still the same salary.
It is actually less of a salary as their pension contribution and healthcare costs out of pocket went up as a way to save the county money.
“School spending has doubled over the past 30 years. Yet what do we get? More buildings and more assistant principals — but student learning? No improvement. If you graph the numbers, the spending line slopes steeply, while the lines for reading, math and science scores are as flat as a dead man’s EKG.
Why no improvement? Because K-12 education is a government monopoly, and monopolies don’t improve.” – John Stossel
PAUL: If you feel student learning has not improved you need to consider the most significant influence on student performance. A student’s success is directly related to his effort. Parental involvement, good study habits, not spending time with Iphones (especially in class) and a whole host of other distracters are often overlooked by critics of schools. John Stossel, a well known provocateur, is not a source I would quote as reliable. He, like Beck, likes to say things that sound good, but are thin on reason.
You cannot pour knowledge into someone’s head. The student must work hard to learn it. I saw a good overview of education on this site: “Educational Success = (student effort² * native intelligence) + (curiosity * joy of learning) + (parental support + study habits) + (excellent teachers + appropriate resources)/TV + video games + poor diet + absenteeism + teen angst”
Do you think today’s student really puts out the same effort on learning as does, for example, an Indian or Chinese student?
Is John Stossel lying about student test results.
PAUL: Yes.
Prove that Stossel is wrong about “If you graph the numbers, the spending line slopes steeply, while the lines for reading, math and science scores are as flat as a dead man’s EKG.”
Show us how over the past 30 years educational outcomes have improved.
PAUL: What he is lying about is “…Because K-12 education is a government monopoly, and monopolies don’t improve.” Let me ask you: is the police a monopoly, the military, the fire dept? No, they are a government function as are schools. If fact, schools are the only activity that the community has direct input. Our newly elected school board law will assure us that schools will now be perfect. Stossel feeds his audience the red meat that the tea party wants to believe.
You also need to realize that ALL students in the United States take the standardized tests that are used to compare us to other countries. In countries like India and China, students with disabilities may not be schooled and they certainly aren’t taking standardized tests.
By the way that is all education. HCPS only gets 45%. Minus 2.1 million…
Comparing police services with educational choices is like comparing apples to carburetors.
We certainly do have a government monopoly on education and less than satisfactory educational outcomes.
PAUL: You do not understand the role of government. The police and schools are both governmental agencies. If students do not learn, well let me refer you to that old saying about leading a horse to water. Re-read what I said about this above: “You cannot pour knowledge into someone’s head. The student must work hard to learn it.”
Paul- It is so nice to be entertained once again. You always seem to deliver the comic relief. When I read this press release, I just knew that you couldn’t resist. Thanks for the laughs and have a happy Thanksgiving!
yea, he is a regular comedian.