From Randy Cerveny, President of Harford County Education Association (HCEA):
To the editor:
Harford County’s students and teachers deserve better than this.
The teachers of Harford County have been in negotiations with Harford County Public Schools (HCPS) since November 2010 for their contract, which began in July 2011.
On April 2, 2012, the Public School Labor Relations Board found that HCPS had been negotiating in bad faith with the Harford County Education Association, which represents the county’s teachers. The Labor Board ordered the two parties to continue to negotiate in good faith. The Labor Board found that HCPS failed to honor parts of the previously negotiated contract agreement with the teachers and failed to follow the agreed upon advertised salary schedule.
Instead of honoring the decision of the Labor Board, Harford County Public Schools filed an appeal of the Labor Board’s decision to the circuit court. To date, Harford County Public Schools has spent in excess of $300,000 on attorney fees instead of meeting its commitments to bargain in good faith and follow accepted labor practices.
HCPS should return to the negotiating table and enter into good faith negotiations with its employees. To do otherwise would continue to heighten mistrust, lower teacher morale, and shift the focus away from where it should be—our students. HCEA wants to create a collaborative relationship with HCPS to improve and enhance the learning environment for our students in Harford County.
Parents and community members should contact your HCPS Board of Education member and tell them to keep their promise to the teachers of Harford County. Our children deserve a school system focused on student success rather than avoiding responsibility.
Sincerely,
Randy Cerveny
President of Harford County Education Association (HCEA)
Randy, it figures….this is no surprise. This is why I left HCPS. There is NO respect for the teachers in this county. Tell me, did administrators get raises? Just curious.
this is your letter to the dagger….what a great slant!
Randy,
You may be talking but nobody is listening. We can count on one of your letters every couple of weeks. I guess you don’t want to become irrelevant.
Is this guy even in reality? He talks like he is the best things since sliced bread. Does he think letters to the dagger are going to make him look good?
He’s stuck in quicksand. He screwed up with the Christmas bonus, and the more he tries to “right” himself, the worse he looks, and the deeper he sinks.
It’s nice to see all of the posts and “likes” from HCPS administration. Maybe they are too busy monitoring the Dagger to negotiate in good faith.
What I can’t believe is everyone is bashing Cerveny. How about the fact that our school board, and administration have been found guilty of bad negotiating. I am not totally thrilled with hcea, but it bothers me more that you can’t trust the people in charge.
The public really needs to wake up and look what is happening to hcps. The vast majority of teachers are not happy, and believe it or not it doesn’t have to do with pay all of the time. Teachers are being treated worse and worse. Tomback has created a system of bullies. Every school administrator is afraid of Tomback and so they do exactly what he says. Which is basically bully your teachers. You add that to not getting raises and you have a dysfunctional system. If you don’t think this is having an impact on the children’s education than you are wrong. Enthusiasm and dedication are slowly being eroded. You used to have a system of teachers willing to go the extra mile for kids, that is becoming a thing of the past. Teachers, office staff, custodians all feel the same why do more? No respect at work, and now school employees are being portrayed as villians by the private sector, because we caused all of the economic mess.
No one dislikes the idea of a union or the job that this guy has done of running his union more than me… With that said, he is not the one to bash in this insatnce. The fact that the labor board has made a decision that states “bad faith negotiations” and that their is an advertised salary schedule that is COMPLETELY wrong shows where the problem in this instance lies.
How is this Cerveny’s “slant”? He is reporting that HCPS is not negotiating in good faith with the teacher’s union, and that they are breaking previously established rules and stated promises. He doesn’t include the fact that this is the second time that HCPS has been found guilty of this. As teachers we are looking at yet another year with no salary increase, with higher medical costs, and the potential cut to medical benefits. Yet again, teachers are effectively taking a pay cut to remain in their jobs. There are fourth year teachers in my school who are making less now then they did when they were hired.
I have already resigned effective the end of the year due to this and other factors. I don’t know what I’m going to do, but I know I’m not doing this anymore, not in this school system where I am disrespected by my employers, by my students, and by the general public. What incentive to I have to remain in a profession where the kids don’t care, the administration doesn’t want me to write referrals, the parents believe their children’s lies, the school system doesn’t want to pay me, and then everyone turns around and blames me (and me alone) for their student’s lack of success. Enough is enough.
amen brother/sister. Good on you being brave enough to walk.
The so-called private sector is angry with teachers and their union representatives because in this economy, there is no more money that can be squeezed from the middle class to pay for teacher’s salary and benefits that the middle class can’t have themselves. Then there’s the fact of that veiled threat that children are hostages who will surely suffer if teacher morale is hurt in any way. Teachers need to stop whining and start being more appreciative of what they have for working 180 days a year compared to the average person struggling to make ends meet. CT teachers are among the highest paid in the nation; the same can’t be said for CT student test scores.
Read the Harford County Budget. there is plenty of money to pay the county workers and teachers and fix our schools and develop new education programing. It is all about priorities. Is it more important to funnel money to special interests, good ole boys, anyone you place you can think of in Havre de Grace, the park with your name on it or is it important to maintain a quality education for all children in Harford County? Just look at the budget bill. It is on the county website in the county council tab. There is plenty of money. Tax payers currently are paying below the constant yield. David Craig simply has misplaced priorities and bad public policies.
It is interesting that the “court” that ruled is the “Public School Labor Relations Board”. Why is there a separate but equal labor relations board? Is the board made up of reasonable people or more pro union thugs? A major factor in the argument is that the County Administration and Council are not the management negotiators in any case. The “management” side of the table is staffed by the school board, facing HCEA. The key missing element is someone who has fiscal responsibility. The board can sign off on 10% raises for everybody, but then they have to somehow get into my pocket to fund that. If the County Exec and Council don’t agree with the negotiated raise the board is force to renege on its promise.
Exactly. If you don’t negotiate with the funding authority you are in no position to promise anything.
Why even have school boards? Why not just appoint the county exec. czar of all things Harford County. Funding authorities are charged with acting responsibly not carrying out personal grudges and catering to special interest lobbies.
Ryan…..you don’t make sense on this one. Why not go back to the 30’s and have a dictatorship? Ever seen that happen before? The public gets to elect the county exec every four years. The school board is appointed and elected. The governor is elected every four years. Do ya see a pattern here? I may not agree with everything that David Craig does, but he has an insight into the workings of the HCPS. The union president has lost all credibility because of his handling of the bonus. This letter to the dagger was from him and did not have any opposing view. I say that if the teachers want to leave—-go. Why would you want to have someone here who doesn’t want to be here. I wish them well, but there are people to take their spots. No one is too important to be replaced. The comment made about not fighting for funding, during a recession, makes no sense. Are these people full of themselves and thing that the education sector deserves more money when there is less? I could say the same thing about public safety. Finally, I think education is important and the school board gets it. There are a number of people on the board, that I know, and is amuses me that they are talked about like they don’t care about the education.
I agree with you. I know of no one on the school board that does not care about education. There certainly are differing views among that group but they are all there because they want a good school system that provides a quality education for our kids.
Parent–Oh, some will go- in fact, the exodus is already beginning- the bright ones, the competent ones, the experienced ones,the best ones, who will easily find employment in other counties or states that will fulfill their contracts and offer competitive salaries. And sure- they will be replaced- with those who would not be hired by those same other counties (who have a better pool of candidates to choose from). The new crop of teachers will be the leftovers.
For fun- let’s just compare this to the private sector for a moment since everyone is so fond of this analogy- if you were a salesman working for a company that did not fulfill your contract for three years despite your impeccable record of success in sales or your extensive training, and another company in the next county over not only welcomes your skills and expertise but promises better pay- what would you do? And which company is going to have the bigger profit in the end? Hint- the one with the best salesmen…..
Fairness in Negotiations act brought to you by Glassman!
I have a feeling we are going to see more and more cases of resignations and retirements as things not only do not get better but actually get worse at HCPS. One of the best teachers at our school is moving to Cecil County- another great teacher to PA. A friend retiring this year said the office is so busy with the load of retirees that he had trouble getting an appointment. I can’t imagine any new recruit choosing us first over the other more competitive counties. I can’t iamgine why a first or second year teacher would stay here. For those that do, the morale gets worse and worse, all to the detriment of our students as stated in a comment above- who wants to go the extra mile even if you love the kids and believe in education when you feel demoralized and apparently worthless to the powers that be…..
People- it is cutting off your nose to spite your face to allow the climate and conditions of HCPS to continue to decline and not stand up for teachers and education when this is one of the most critical times in our country to do so. You will see more and more good teachers go- as evident from the comment above and in my school. I don’t blame concerned teacher for leaving. I wish them luck.
Not funding or fighting for quality education in a recession is like “closing a hospital during the plague.”
If money is the only thing that motivates a good teacher to teach, then good riddance. Education budgets are ruining many towns. After paying for education, many towns have no money left to fix road, buy fire or police equipment, or provide quality of life programs for its residents. Libraries are on the verge of closing, athletic programs are being cancelled, fireworks are gone; and so it goes. Taxpayers have had enough and are now pushing back. The never ending increases to property taxes to provide teachers and union bureaucrats above average pay and benefits for below average student performance won’t be automatically accepted any longer. Resistance can be expected until teachers’ pay and benefits come more in line with the private sector and student performance improves.
None of these other calamities has come to pass in Harford Co. Roads are maintained, bridges are built, fire and police are provided, new athletic complexes with turf fields are built, new community centers continue to spring up, and libraries are expanding.
The problem with student performance is that no one wants to speak the obvious that not all students perform at high academic levels. In the past those students would find work in the large manufacturing component of the economy or they provided the unskilled labor pool which all economies need. Today those manufacturing jobs do not exist in the U.S., either shipped overseas or replaced by robotics.
So education becomes ever more important for those wishing to rise above what is no longer an option to attaining a comfortable, if not upper-class, life style. Teachers cannot create in students what is either not genetically possible or a personal work ethic that lifts those above their intellectual capacity.
Money isn’t the only thing that motivates a good teacher to teach, but they gotta pay the bills too and for the past few years all that’s increased for most teachers are paperwork, class sizes, pension contribution, and insurance premiums while their take home pay has decreased.
I agree with you 100%! But that shouldn’t be for just teachers…it should be for EVERY profession! So accountants who are motivated to get their CPA license because it will benefit them financially…should get out! Who needs CPA’s who are motivated by money? We should only have one’s that are motivated by the love of helping others with financial and tax advice!
And an attorney with years of study and experience who expects financial reward for their work should be disbarred! Their years of hard work should result in nothing but benevolence. Who needs these greedy people anyway!
So absolutely! Anyone who expects financial reward in exchange for working hard should be removed from their profession. Our country doesn’t need this kind of ethic! We need people who are willing to work for the benefit of everyone else while expecting little in return for themselves.
As Col. Harry Potter would say, “That is a big steaming pile of horse pucky!”
Lan Man – As a fiscally conservative taxpayer, I would have a hard time with teachers pulling down six figures, but even I can’t believe that a reasonable person would suggest that teacher salaries in this county are too high and should be cut as you are suggesting.
The current HCPS system is a changed environment. Outstanding teachers are being told that they are not teaching in the expected manner and placed on “Plans of Assistance”. These plans block a tenured teacher’s effort to move to a different school…..although this is not documented in the Negotiated Agreement. At least, allow these teachers to have a fresh environment and work with another principal. The entire climate in our schools is very distructive and toxic. Please, parents of students, help us rid this system of the poor leadership that has caused this significant decline. An unsuccessful principal was allowed a new opportunity at Central Office. Why are teachers deemed not successful not permitted to work at a different school?
Welcome to the real world of accountability. Just because you have been in a classroom for twenty years does not mean you are a good teacher. In the real world you don’t get a plan of assistance, you are let go.
In the real world, if you’ve been teaching for 20 years, you are most likely a good teacher, but are a financial liability. 20 year teachers are a lot more expensive than first year teachers. If we value education, we have to decide how much experience is worth and if teaching is a profession that our children should aspire to become a part of. What incentive do our children have to become teachers if they know that they will be dismissed after their salaries become too expensive to pay for?
In the real world, you are generally given the authority to enforce that which you are being held accountable for. Take a course in Management…or just do a Google search on “responsibility without authority”.
Therein lies the difference. Teachers not allowed to teach “their way”; they have to teach the way they are told to teach by administrators or they are put on plans of assistance. Then, even though they are being coerced into teaching “the company way”, they are held accountable for the results.
I know that “responsibility without authority” happens in “the real world” (as you call it), but when it does it is considered to be a dysfunctional management style. On the other hand you seem to think that this should be the norm that everyone should be subjected to.
It’s even better when an administrator with zero background or experience in a particular subject tries to tell a teacher with a masters (or higher level) and 15+ years experience in that subject that they’re teaching the material wrong and then gives the teacher a bad evaluation.
This is just what happened to my friends at John Archer School. Thank heaven someone had the sense to remove the former principal…too bad for the staff that it took three long years to do it.
As an HCPS teacher and future parent, I am very worried about where my children will go to school and what their educational environment will be like in five to ten years. The morale in some buildings is declining due to administrative issues, testing and curriculum pressures, the salary issues, and many more. (Please don’t take that as complaining, I’m just stating a fact; and I understand similar issues arise in the private sector.) I know there are great teachers in this county and we all want to do what’s best for our students, but sooner or later the lack of support and understanding from the Board, particularly Dr. Tomback, is going to force those great teachers to make some very tough choices. Will those wonderful teachers stay around long enough to help instill a love of learning in my children? I don’t know…………I guess we will all just have to pray that HCPS will soon see the light.
As a teacher and parent, I’ve already decided that I don’t want my daughter to attend a HCPS. If I’m still here when my daughter is ready to start school, she will be attending a private school.
Sorry to hear that. Somewhere there is an HCPS teacher that would have loved to have someone named “Pebbles” in their class!
Sorry Fred Flintstone…I couldn’t resist!
All you haters out there….get a sense of humor!
Haters gonna hate!
That was a perfect comment!
I am a little over the “private sector.” First of all, many companies do put people on probation before firing them which is like the plan of assistance.
Secondly, if the private sector is so horrible and awful, why aren’t you a teacher?
Also, about a month ago, there was a report placing Harford County 3rd in the NATION for weekly wage growth. It also placed the county in the top 25 in the NATION for average weekly salary. Obviously, as a whole, the county is not doing that poorly. I fully understand (remember…teachers have friends and family too) that people are being laid off. I am not discounting those people’s stories, but too many people on here paint it as if everyone in Harford County has lost their job.
Additionally, (and I know this is FAR from true for the county as whole), many of my students went to the beach, Florida, the Carribean, or on cruises for Spring Break. Are these all the people who are so hurt for money? It is a little confusing for people to act like everyone is hurting when I see a student parking lot with new BMW’s, Hummers, and Lexus’s in it.
Lastly, I teach (and based on what I have been told by parents, students, fellow teachers, supervisors, and principals, I am really good at it) because I actually love working with kids and seeing them grow. I spend hours every week outside of school grading work and leaving detailed comments and corrections to be sure students know how to improve next time. There is not another job I would want to have. After over a decade of teaching, I can still say I love my job and what I do. Early in my career, I often didn’t even think about my paycheck until it was in my box at school. Teaching what what I love to do–it is not just a paycheck. However, after having a child of my own, I did have to look at that paycheck and wonder if I was sacrificing my own child’s well-being for those of others? Is it fair to expect me to educate future engineers, doctors, etc., while denying my own child the right to those things by freezing my salary for 4 year? Being a 2 teacher household, it is a loss of $10,000 a year in our overall salary. We’re not even sure we can afford to have another child, but if we had that money it would not even be an issue.