The following letter was sent from Harford County Education Association (HCEA) President Ryan Burbey to Harford County Executive David Craig, Harford County Public Schools Superintendent Barbara Canavan, and all members of the Harford County Council and Harford County Board of Education. A copy was provided to The Dagger for publication:
Dear County Executive Craig,
After reviewing your budget in brief and associated comments, I find myself once again obliged to respond. You cite several statistics to justify your lack of commitment to our public schools. You state that Harford County ranked 13th in local funding to public education. This is true but Harford County also ranked 12th in wealth per pupil. If our local funding was raised sufficiently to rank 12th to match our wealth per pupil that would result in an increase of over $250 per pupil, which equates to approximately $9.5 million of additional education funding. When the rankings for school expenditures and wealth are examined closely, your lack of commitment to education is even more apparent. In fact, Charles County, ranks 15th in per pupil wealth, yet out spends Harford County by $258 per pupil. Citing these rankings as justification for your administration’s perpetual underfunding of our schools highlights your fundamental disregard or misunderstanding of the state formula for school funding.
State funding for education is driven by an inverse wealth formula. The higher your county’s wealth per pupil the lower the state funding. This formula is predicated by the idea that counties with more means must accept more responsibility for funding their own schools. Between FY 2006 and FY 2015, Harford County’s wealth per pupil increased by 68%. This year alone Harford County’s wealth per pupil increased by 2.1%1. The multitude of public and private construction projects which you have championed all count toward the per pupil wealth calculation. Likewise, the tax increment financing projects, which you openly praise as smart policy, count towards our wealth per pupil calculation, despite netting zero additional general fund revenue to date. As our measured wealth has grown Harford County has been expected to accept more responsibility for the cost of educating our children. Unfortunately, local school funding by percent of budget, has declined during this same time frame.
Funding provided to HCPS by the state of Maryland has varied slightly from year to year, with last year being the most extreme reduction to date. So, it is true that Harford County contributed more last year as you cite. However, historically the state of Maryland has contributed more to the education of Harford County’s children than Harford County Government. In FY 2013, the state of Maryland contributed 49.2% compared to Harford County’s total contribution of 46.4%. In fact, during 8 out of the past 10 years the state of MD has contributed more towards public education in Harford County than Harford County government .
Really this is not about statistics. It is about children, teachers and our community. At a time when virtually every other county in the state is investing in their schools, Harford County, under your leadership, is not even keeping pace with inflation. During your tenure as county executive, teachers’ salaries have plummeted in comparison to their colleagues around the state. Likewise, materials of instruction, supplemental resources and professional development opportunities have become sparse. Over and over the Harford County Board of Education has submitted a budget, which you have refused to even come close to funding. Under the austerity brought on by your failure to meet the board of education’s funding requests, our students lack the technology and 21stcentury opportunities, which other counties willingly provide.
You can tout the schools which have been built. You can blame the state. You can vilify me, our teachers and other voices of opposition. You can say that education is a priority for your administration. However, your words ring hollow. True leaders accept responsibility for the consequences of their decisions and actions. The truth is that year after year the funding provided by your administration lags woefully behind what is needed to provide a quality education for our students. Make no mistake; when the cuts come, when class sizes rise, when students, as well as, parents wonder why their favorite teachers have left Harford County and when overall achievement falters, falling behind neighboring counties; the responsibility will lie squarely upon your shoulders.
Sincerely,
Ryan Burbey
President-HCEA
Here go all the education bashers!
Burbey, why don’t you set the example and lead the way out of harford county.
No, I think I will stay and keep fighting until our children and community have the schools they deserve.
Really? How about sharing some honesty with the teachers. Tell them that the total compensation package they get in Harford County is comparable to the same overall compensation they would earn in the corporate world. Tell the teachers that after APG shrinks some teachers will lose their jobs anyway but even more will be gone if they are paid more.
Lagmeister or whatever your name is, most people with at least one masters degrees makes much more in the public world than a teacher that is a fact. 10th year teacher paycheck is about 1400 a pay. My friend delivers produce to restaurants with no training and no special license and makes a comparable wage.
A net yearly income of over 33K for delivering produce? And I thought the mob was only into sanitation.
But we were talking total compensation. Total compensation for a starting teacher in Harford County is around 56K. It is easy in the corporate world to pay 45 – 50K to start because they have no pension and lousy medical. But, of course, one needs a marketable skill in the business world in how to generate profit and volume. A Masters in English or Education is not really worth anything – that’s burger flipping for minimum wage.
The schools unions have no power, NONE. DO A WALKOUT! ALSO FIRE ALL THE DEAD WEIGHT DO NOTHING SCABS, who want to blame everyone for their problems. As a citizen I am completely shocked at all the waste I see with the school system, I see bus drivers in parking lots with the engines running, I see trades workers sleeping in residential neighborhoods, Where is ENTERNAL AFFAIRS? Cut the waste. I have clocked the school systems workers using county vehicles for personal use. Maybe the FBI NEEDS a phone call because of all of the FRAUD WASTE AND ABUSE that is happening. I have seen numerous, numerous things that says, there is No accountability.
Maybe someone should go back to school. You write like a fourth grader
Burbey,
If you seriously agreed to no COLA, No step, and no cuts that is pathetic and I know several pro-union people in my school that will be resigning from the union. That is not an agreement that represents the best interests of teachers. If that is the best you were offered you decline and delcare an impasse but you do not sign or agree to it!
Son, I taught you to respect people more intelligent than you. Please apologize to Ryan and then do Harford County a favor and walk blindfolded at night time back and forth across route 1.
You did “daddy”, that’s why I’ve never respected you. Sorry, I don’t live near route 1, I wouldn’t want to keep walking on your road kill dinner.
Rj why don’t you eat sh1t
Another Lilliputian effort by Burbey has nothing to do with education, more likely it is the result an inner circle beating he received as a result of the Allegany-County-as-gold-standard sludge he troweled out at the meeting.
Lackingmeister – Since you seem to post at all hours, I wonder if trolling the message boards is your job? Your constant dribble and attempt at wit has actually forced me to indirectly be helpful to Ryan. I usually try to avoid such behavior. However, at least he has a job, which is something I feel you should consider looking for rather than spending all hours of the day on message boards.
I’m just a young man with a dream – or an old man with a sense of humor. Perhaps I am one of those semi-educated types who can’t find employment – or an administrator that finds Burbey to be the paspartu of the county. Maybe I am trying to get the teachers to appreciate what they have rather than let some dolt like Burbey – as an ungracious pastor – lead them down the primrose path. –
Sure teachers we appreciate you and your dedication to our kids but we simply can’t pay you enough to live in our county, unless you will love in the Wood or Joppa.
Sad
*live
Have you looked at house prices there ? That is a stretch!
Typical Marxist. He whined about new schools and got them then complains MORE money is needed. Its never enough for them. No wonder the kids these days are doing drugs.
The union especially Ryan did not ask for valuable resources to be spent on over done schools that would be the board and county exec as they use them to boast about. The new schools all have 32 inch plasma Sony televisions not a cheap brand but Sony. They have surround sound with subwoofers, smart boards, and other unnecessary things not asked for by employees but by politicians. The frustration for the waste should lie with the board and the politicians, not the union or teachers. By the way I am anti union but I. This instance the problem is not them
In this instance
Jen don’t blame drug use on the teacher, you are the parent.
Cut all magnet programs, cut all sports that do not generate the revenue to pay for themselves, cut AP courses, clubs that will free up more than enough to fund the salary increases and should wake up those who to this point don’t care to be involved
Again I must have missed the point. What do we get for throwing away more money into the bottomless trashcan they call HCPS?
The only result I can see is it would shut ryan up and I’m not completely sold it’s worth it.
I will gladly give him a dollar to shut his fat yap.
Over 40 tax increase in Maryland, tons of new schools and they are still bitching they don’t get enough money.
Why is ok for private business to raise cost to meet the demands of inflation, but the school system shouldn’t ask for more money to do the same? Its employee shouldn’t expect pay increase to meet the demands of the rising cost of living?
I got a great idea all of you against the school system budget increase do 1 of 2 things. First go to a board meeting and complain about how much money they spend. Or better yet go to a school and when the staff leaves go up to each teacher, custodian, etc and tell them they don’t deserve the increase.
My company didn’t get a new building paid for by the taxpayers.
My company benefits are no where close to teachers benefits.
My company has competition that forces us to live within our budget.
My company does not close when it rains, when it snows, when it is too cold, or when it is too hot.
My company does not close for the summer, we work year round.
My company does not have a pension plan.
My company hasn’t provided most of the staff a cost of living increase for years.
My company will fire you if you do not perform, too bad teachers aren’t held to same standard.
So if my wages are paying your salaries, benefits, and providing you with the new buildings in which you teach (which far exceed the environment in which I work), I suggest you shut your month and say “thank you” for the job that we are paying you for.
I sometimes forget that teacher wages are tax free. Thanks for the reminder, you Jackwagon.
Perfect name for you TOOL, no where in my post did I say their wages were tax-free you dicktard.
Learn how to read before you pop off your month.
Well then, forgive me if I am wrong, but I believe you were complaining about how your tax money is being used to fund the salary of public servants? That said, and I could be wrong, but I do believe that teachers pay the same comparable taxes.
MUFFMOUTHSKI,
Best post to date on the subject.
It is amazing the degree of ignorance displayed in this forum by government employees. They think they are part of a struggle between themselves and a bunch of billionaires. They think the taxing Trotskyites in Annapolis are looking out for their best interest. They think there are tons of high paying private sector jobs for someone with a Masters degree in origami.
Then again, it is not so surprising. They are still fighting the revolution in Cuba.
ski,
If you unhappy with your pay and benefits apply to be a teacher, until then as you say shut up. You choose your field, just like teachers. The reason they have a pension, and benefit package is because of their lower payscale.
For the new buildings, and closing because of poor conditions don’t worry we will take care of your children and make sure that they are safe since you seem to care very little.
You live in the United States of America, an advanced country where everyone is entitled to a free and appropriate education. You are provided services like police, fireman, and a military. Those service cost money, you pay a fee (tax) for those services, you do not pay anyone’s salary. You contribute to the betterment of society. If you don’t like you are entitled to move. If you choose to live then you have to pay for it.
PJTOOL,
Actually no. Government employees only pay taxes on paper. Real taxes (that’s real wealth) comes from generated private wealth, of which the government takes a part. When the private wealth disappears, mistakenly, government employees think they can tax each other to pay each others salaries – can we all say Detroit.
And yes folks, only the private sector pays the salaries of government employees. Why is the country trillions in debt? Why will we soon be taxed to 4$ per gallon on regular gas? It is because the government has to keep increasing the taxes on the shrinking private sector in order to pay for itself.
But don’t you love the self importance of the teachers who post here. They will never wise up. Starting in Harford County with a compensation package of 56k is very good money. Sorry the other counties pay more. If there is a job opening then go take it. Then maybe you will stop looking down your nose at people who do pay your salary – that’s right, we do pay your salary.
Government workers never like the fact they actually don’t produce any new revenue they just redistribute it from those who do produce. As a gauge to determine just how dumb your average government worker is ask one where the tax money that pays their salary would come from if everyone worked for the government. Try it sometime it’s a hoot to watch the look on their faces
I wonder how much money you would actually lose if those govt workers actually didn’t clear the snow of the roads, if your water didn’t flow to your home or if your future employees couldn’t read, write or understand math? They would be just like you. Your complete lack what constitutes output and taxes is understandable. You would be the type of person that would believe that if a tree fell in the forest, it didn’t actually fall because you didn’t see it! Government workers pay taxes just as well as the private govt contractors working at APG. By your reasoning if you own a coffee shop and a govt worker purchases something from you, in reality no economic transfer of funds ever took place? Are you a child? Your lack of economic reasoning is not surprising as I see it in the Dagger most of the time. Govt workers are producing a service that benefits society even if it doesn’t directly benefit you in every instance. I suppose that as a govt worker that I would benefit from higher taxes, and I won’t dispute that notion because I would get back more but the fact still remains that I DO produce a service that benefits the whole and it is harder to quantify except when your road doesn’t get plowed, your water doesn’t flow or when something else that I do prevents you from going to work.
Since my water comes out of a well on my property I have no idea what you are talking about tax dollars supplying it? Help a brother out and please explain.
You should have your water checked for lead or contaminants. Your reasoning that you don’t need water proves the point that you have a small mind and equally small levels of intelligence. That’s ok, many of the Dagger must be drinking your water.
Couldn’t answer a simple question from a statement you made. Unfortunately the dagger doesn’t filter posts like yours for out right lies. Judging by the time of day you reply and the incoherent content I’d bet you have a drinking problem also.
I’ll pray for you.
Does the water at you buisness come from a well?
Yes. are there any other dumb questions? perhaps you guys could ask them all at once.
Can your buisness function without water?
No it can’t, that’s why I have a well there also.
Is there a point to your dumb questions? you are making my head hurt.
Now son, just because you are so plainly wrong doesn’t mean you need to be a jerkoff. Government workers completely understand that if everyone was a government worker there would be no taxes. Private sector folk also need to understand that if there were no government workers there would be no roads, military, police, fireman, schools, bridges, tunnels, FDA, Medicare, Medicaid, and many more services that they need in order to live. Not one government employee on this board is asking to get rich, simply put they are asking for what they were promised. They are also asking why it is that there is only 1 (ONE) county in the state of maryland that has frozen teacher salaries for more than one year. Why is it that every other county in the state can manage their finances and pay lowly civil servants that provide you with the knowledge to get your high and mighty private sector job but not Harford?
Love always,
Momma
You ask quite a few questions but as a member of the educational literati you should already know the answers. First of all, the you “promised” tactic is off putting because it smacks of a child trying to tackle his parent in the candy aisle: go find a member of the BOE and moan to them. While you are at it, get a math teacher to run the numbers on the wealth ‘redistribution’ formula and find out why the state is sticking it to this county.
Also, your listing of the litany of things that drain our tax dollars should tell you something, not me. I already know all that, which is why I think you should be grateful that we can still afford to pay your salary. Perhaps the taxpayers in the other counties are stupid (think Allegany County) or perhaps the state is ripping off Harford County. It really doesn’t matter. Bottom line, you are blaming your benefactors for a plight that is self created. Our bones are picked clean. Drive down to Annapolis and gnaw on their neck. All this makes one wonder if you have the mental forensics to teach our children.
“Our bones are picked clean” says the guy with a computer or smartphone and an IPS. You have no idea what it means to be broke. What you do know is that you want to keep as much of your money as possible and get others to provide you what you want for as little as possible. This notion that the people of harford county are “broke” is laughable. And to say you are overtaxed here in MD is outrageous, unless of course you are comparing MD to other states. In which case you should take your own advice that you spout off to teachers…go live where the grass is greener. If you have a problem with taxes now, make sure you don’t look up what the taxes were 60 years ago. You should be excited to give more in taxes as you have been living a dream for decades.
this jero-O is making the same comments under 137 different names………
GO DAGGER !
My son works for an IT company with a bachelor degree and he would laugh at $56K, he has been employed for 3 years know and makes $30k more than that and will probably increase his income once he finishes his Masters. His wife with a Masters in Education has been and will be stuck at way lower levels and that’s why she is leaving the education field. I think HCG has been shortchanging the taxpayer by not making reasonable attempts to work with the BOE and paying its employees a fair wage.. By the way, I am not advocating higher taxes, the money is there! The county built a prison that stays empty and the taxpayer seems to not be so concerned about it. the county has made many investments in a new water treatment facility, purchasing land and building things. It is time for the county to pay the people providing the work.
The HCPS is an overstuffed pig. They already have the money but they have grown so fat the belt they need to tighten no longer even fits. The facts are, enrollment numbers are down and the trend will continue. Ryan knows this it’s not a secret and if they don’t get the money now when no one is paying attention to the real numbers they will never get it. It has nothing to do with the community or the children it is pure and simple greed and self interest.
Mr. Cook,
Enrollment numbers are not down significantly. They will drop significantly if the educational outcomes and programing are compromised by perpetual underfunding.
Please cite specific cuts and associated dollar amounts which you think HCPS could make.
They actually are down significantly when you factor in the new schools added compared to their costs.
Saving money easy, they are going to spend 50+ million rebuilding Youths Benefit.. instead use the money to increase capacity of surrounding school and sell off YBE, The forecast for enrollment at YBE resembles a down hill ski slope It’s a colossal waste of taxpayer money. If HCPS had an incentive to be more efficient these cost saving measures would be obvious but you are teaching children their actions carry no responsibility and have no personal consequences and using other peoples money to do it.
You need to factor in the associated costs of suppressing the riot if you close down YBE and start sending the kids to Red Pump, Abingdon, Jarrettsville, Riverside and Magnolia!
Laggy, you are so misguided and and your frustration so misdirected. Education is far from the reason our country is broke and you my son wouldn’t have your private sector job without those teachers you speak about. Also if government employees don’t really pay taxes then perhaps it should no longer be taken out of their checks. I bet if you stopped taxing their wages they would be satisfied with no cost of loving increase for five years.
Now son run along and be a d-bag troll elsewhere. You pretend to be witty and somewhat intelligent but truthfully you spend all day on the dagger because you are lonely, gutless, and have no life.
Love,
Dad
Ouch that hurt. Well, actually I’m laughing.
When confronted with the facts that sting it usually draws the childish epithets.
You left out the insults to my mother, which I guess comes next.
Money paid to teachers is tax money. Isn’t it obvious that you cannot draw additional wealth from it because tax dollars taken out of a teacher’s pay do not add to the disposable wealth of the government. Appears to be a simple concept to me. And, it is simple since I learned that in high school. But then those teachers grew up on farms or the men teachers worked in coal mines before going to college. They were hard scrabble folks steeped in the basic economics of how things worked.
It is now understandable why so many college students move back in with their parents today. Nobody prepared them with the necessary skills to make it on their own.
The “ugly face” of posters on Dagger applies to articles on all manner of topics. It is why very few elected officials from Harford County read it and even fewer ever post to it other than in canned press releases. I know of many past readers of the Dagger who have stopped visiting the site because of the constant negativity and bickering that is posted here. Freedom of speech is alive and well on the Dagger but thoughtful exchanges of ideas and civil discourse are often in short supply.
Did anyone else hear a loud fart at the last meeting? Who did that? I bet it was a teacher.
And the first prize goes to Mr. James Cook for the most ignorant statement of the day.
No pay raises and continuous complaining about everyting HCPS. And you have a Union? Why? What exactly has it gotten you? As I said the last time I posted – decertify the Union and count the dues you are no longer being forced to pay as a raise. Come on, you are inteligent, educated people; and you need a Union? See above – Why?
Been teaching 9 years and never once joined the union. Where should I go to get my raise? I bust my @ss for the children of Harford county and am one of the most popular, well respected, and caring teachers at BAMS and what does it get me year after year? Nothing but less pay, (due to benefits and taxes) increased responsibility (up to 33 of your children under my direct care) and more grief from losers on the Dagger. I could not agree more that unions notoriously protect lousy employees and that is one of the reasons I can not join but this is getting to be ridiculous. The plain truth is less than 50k a year for 9 years of service and a Masters degree is disgusting. Especially when every where you turn they are building new 4-500 thousand dollar homes. Harford county is not hurting but their leadership sure acts like it.
Agree with many of the your comments but I would add that had you and other non members lent your support before now maybe things would not have gotten this bad.
No, you aren’t getting a raise, and it doesn’t matter how hard you work. Do you know why? Because the general public doesn’t want to pay you more. They are just as glad to find out that someone like yourself will bust your @ss for their children while denying you pay raises year after year. And don’t think for a minute that these “I’ll pay for performance” types are any more willing to pay you more just because you might be the best teacher their kid ever had. Just ask yourself this question: Look at every kid in your classroom; now, if it were up to each of those kids parents to write you a check for any amount they chose for teaching their kid for an entire year, how much do you think you would go home with? I would bet that you would go home with even less than you are making now. Because people don’t want to pay more for things they think they can get for less, and they don’t want to pay at all for things they think they can get for free. If a lot of people had their choice, you’d make a lot less, regardless of how good of a teacher you may be.
And now you know why labor unions formed in the first place: because those with power enforce their power. Unions don’t only protect lousy employees (as you say), they also protect fantastic ones, and they protect members from being abused or taken advantage of by their employers. But here in MD, unions have been rendered virtually powerless, and here in Harford County the politicians and constituents know that you have little to no ability to realize a pay increase through negotiations, while having no other means at your disposal.
So you will keep working and killing yourself for them thinking that it will earn you respect and financial reward, and when you are burned out or disillusioned, they’ll be glad to can you and get another young, bright-eyed kid in front of the classroom who they can pay even less, and repeat the whole process. And the more teachers they can convince to reject supporting the only representative organization they have in this fight, stronger they will get and the happier they will be.
I take it this is your manifesto before you slit your wrists.
Thank goodness there isn’t a local Jim Jones colony or a group waiting on the mother ship.
I grow faint thinking you actually might be standing in front of a classroom.
Please, someone, stop him before he teaches again.
Dagger administrators, this is exactly the kind of inappropriate commentary I mention in my others posts. The reputation of businesses can be irreparably damaged not only by what they do but also by what they fail to do, and the associations they keep. Like it or not the reputation or your organization is influenced by what you allow to be posted on your site. Once lost a good reputation is hard to recover.
You can’t be choosy about who teaches since you pay for Walmart quality!
It’s okay BAMS teacher, just imagine if you had to work all 9 of those years on route 40. There are teachers down there who’d go back two steps to work with students as easy as you have it. They have twice the IEPs your school has, but only half of the parently support. You think you bust your ass now? Haha, if you’re so great at what you do, why aren’t you applying for a transfer to come work at a school that really needs it. I’d love it if my PTA bought me bonefish gift cards, heck I’d love it if we had a PTA! We’ve got your hand-me-down desks/filing cabinets/ copy machines, and our school is never considered necessary for renovation, with half of our rooms not climate controlled. We don’t have time to make posts at 1:45 on a Friday because we are too busy managing our classroom and planning lessons twice as engaging as yours because if we don’t, kids won’t even bother giving us 2 seconds of their time. It must be nice to know that a phone call to a kids parent can fix behavior, or that the parent even has a phone at all! Or even a current address instead of being evicted month to month! Spend the union fees please, you’re close to the fire, and you think you’re feeling the heat. But in reality, you’re standing in my way while I’m standing in the middle of it. Thanks for making my job less likely to receive adequate compensation, while gloating about how hard your job must be when you don’t have half the responsibility, yet twice the spare time, that most of us do.
And to any other educators that say “We can’t turn on each other, we gotta stick together!” Get over yourselves. There’s a reason why the transfer applications all point NW on the map. Down here on the corridor, we envy you. And most of you couldn’t hack it down here. Sorry if it’s hard for us to listen to how tough you have it up there.
Non-union, You do seem very smart, an accomplished masters degree holder. My question for you(and many other teachers out there) is this: Did you research how much Teachers salaries are before becoming said teacher?
Just curious.
Yeah, I did at least. I was happy to plan out my tuition payments under the promised step plans so that I could afford to go to school while teaching simultaneously (per the certificate requirements). Had I known that HarCo would be the only county to reneg on this AGREEMENT, than I would certainly have considered taking the offers I got from Baltimore and Anne Arundel Counties in 2009. Harford County proposed a reasonable contract on paper for me to sign, and I felt the education I received here growing up motivated me to want to give back to the community I still belong. I’m starting to wonder how much they really want me around.
Sounds like you did your homework. I’d be making the commute to Baltimore County if I were you. Supply and Demand.
Most graduates fail to get a single job offer with a compensation package around 56K. You got three offers (or so you say) and two were greater than the one you accepted. With all that you should have a sense of gratitude a mile wide. Instead, all you can do is complain about having chosen poorly. The giving back idea you are trying to sell is eyewash. You wanted to live in Harford County. You have a job most folks would love to have. You look small and ungrateful for complaining about your situation. I suggest a little growing up is in order.
This is almost as good as watching the Jerry Springer Show or at least as good as WWE wrestling. I look forward to the mindless comments of most folks, and I suspect that many people actually think this stuff is real! Great stuff!!!
Your critique may be quite true. Has the Dagger degenerated into the local media version of the Jerry Springer Show? As hard as it may be to believe the tenor of the discourse here will only sink to even greater lows as the elections get closer. Unless the Dagger can get a handle on the behavior of some of those making comments here the Dagger may become a media outlet no longer worth reading.
I have read all other posts in the other threads. You have no problem with those – vulgarisms and all. How typical it is for a government employee to play the censor card when light is shown on how shameful it is for someone to lose their dignity over a salary. Not only that, the post you are defending accuses Harford County citizens of not wanting to pay for something they “could get for free.” That is about as low as you can get. But it’s okay with you.
I don’t want that person imparting that attitude on the children of Harford County. If they feel that way about things they should have the personal dignity to leave.
And actually, I thought my post was fairly well written.
I am not a government employee. My comment had nothing to do with supporting Gompers’ post and was directed at the tone of discourse by numerous posters on all sides of the conversation in this article and others. You were not specifically identified until after your comments about slitting wrists, which is completely inappropriate. At one time Dagger appropriately monitored the commentary on this site. Dagger risks its’ reputation by allowing such comments.
Why would anybody believe anything you post? If you are the personal syntax police why aren’t you over in the Bane thread reprimanding the usage of such words as “inbred” and so forth. Moreover, where is your righteous moral indignation over a teacher telling lie after lie about the parents of their students.
Truth? My appropriate use of hyperbole struck a nerve. Under the guise of taking the high moral ground you thought you could jump in, solicit the admin and try to change the subject. That’s thin, really thin.
My comments are both insightful and mild compared to what gets posted around here. Your motives are more than suspect and not being a government employee is also suspect.
Legmeister, I do not work for the government and yet you challenge the veracity of my employment without a shred of evidence to the contrary. I was on the Bane thread first where I said the same thing about the coarse commentary. My initial comments on each were in response others who had a similar opinion of the level of discourse between posters on this site. If you do not like being singled out then maybe you should change how you converse with others.
Again you are paying cheap you will take what you get!
Uh…Lagmeister…go back and read some of the things you posted, some of the things you’ve said about teachers and government workers. If there is anyone who has lost their dignity over a salary, it is you (assuming of course, that you ever had any dignity to begin with). You’ve said a lot of insulting, demeaning, condescending things about a lot of people, and it is all based on the fact that you don’t want them to see pay increases.
It’s also ironic that you made it a point to say that you don’t want Gompers “imparting that attitude on the children of Harford County”. That attitude being that he “accuses Harford County citizens not wanting to pay for something they could get for free.” First, I doubt anyone would want to see your attitude imparted on children either, and second, your whole mantra in this and other threads has been about why you and other taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay more, that government workers and teachers should be happy with less. You even go so far as to say that if they aren’t happy, they should just leave. Well isn’t that exactly what Gompers said at the end of his post? Teachers become disillusioned and leave, then they get younger, cheaper teachers to take their place. And you get the same service for less money. So what are you insulted about? You’ve been saying the same thing all along!
BTW, all the things you’ve said could also be applied to you. You should be grateful you have a job. If a government worker or teacher is doing better than you, then quit complaining, quit your job, and become a government worker or a teacher. If you can’t afford to pay your taxes, change your spending habits/lifestyle, or move to somewhere you can better afford to live. If you don’t like teachers asking for a raise that they haven’t had in X number of years, move to somewhere that pays their teachers better so you don’t have to listen to it.
See? All you have to do is follow your own directives and you’ll be much better off.
Ramble much?
Let me just deal with your most important lie: I have posted more than once that I was willing to pay a couple hundred more in taxes so the teachers can have a raise. I ask Burbey more than once to declare what taxes should be raised to get the money. Total silence.
Now, after reading posts by some obvious teachers I have this gut feeling that they should be weeded out. All of this is has been posted by me in a humorously sarcastic style. Good for forums.
Now, many of you want this forum to be a happy party of government employees who merrily bash the taxpayers while spreading one falsehood after another – some by ignorance and some on purpose. Sorry it hasn’t turned out the way you wanted it.
As a Harford County-educated high school graduate, I can tell you that I had a lot of mediocre teachers who didn’t seem to care whether I succeeded or not. I didn’t really have any standout teachers that I remember. My parents funded my college and graduate school and those private educational experiences are what taught me the love of learning. I graduated from a major ivy league university and that is why I have my job.
You must have gotten some value from your education in Harford County otherwise you never would have been admitted into an Ivy League institution.
Not much — I was mostly bored and not working to my full potential. Thank goodness my parents pushed me. When I saw that my daughter, who is brilliant, was being lost in the shuffle, I put her in private school. She is now an electrical engineer. There is much about the school curriculum and the social milieu that the school system needs to fix. They are losing a lot of bright, promising children to mediocrity and worse.
You should realize that part of the challenge HCPS has in providing engaging opportunities for all students is funding. More funding = More programing. More programing = More opportunities. More opportunities = Less boredom.
Some wake up to the opportunities put before them earlier than others. I am sure some of your classmates were not so bored with their education experiences in Harford County schools and went on enter prestigious schools, enter the military, start their own businesses or climbed the corporate ladder, and have very successful careers and rewarding lives for themselves. The end result of every situation we find ourselves in is what you choose to make of it at that time.
I was originally responding to the post that I have my job because of the wonderful educators in Harford County. When I was I high school – Bel Air High, to be exact – the teachers were on strike. It went on for a significant amount of time. There were several classes in which we did not have a teacher present. That is outrageous. I began my grade school years in Baltimore County and received a solid foundation. That is probably why I did as well as I have, but moreso, because my parents provided me with lots of extracurricular opportunities and later, helped me to go on to higher learning and develop the skills necessary for the job I have.
Teachers on strike? You are talking ancient history. Wasn’t that about 40 years ago? That is not even legal now in Maryland.
“I was originally responding to the post that I have my job because of the wonderful educators in Harford County.” Are you confused? There is nothing in your previous posts where you give credit to any Harford County educators. You give all credit to your parents and university professors. So which is it?
You are the only one that is confused. I was using the word, wonderful, in a facetious manner. Just in case you have no idea what “facetious” means:
fa•ce•tious (f??si ??s)
adj.
1. not meant to be taken seriously or literally: a facetious remark.
2. amusing; humorous.
3. lacking serious intent: a facetious person.
[1585–95; < Latin fac?tus clever, witty. See -ious]
fa•ce?tious•ly, adv.
fa•ce?tious•ness, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
Anyway, I am entitled to my opinions and and will leave it at that. I sense you are a little mean-spirited or have some kind of ax to grind with people who do not agree with you. Don't misunderstand, I have the utmost respect for the teachers in our county but they do not and have never walked on water. There are great teachers just as there are mediocre and down-right bad teachers. I am just sick and tired of hearing them whine and complain about their pay. I have previously written about numerous people I am aware of who have excellent credentials and haven't been given a raise in years mainly because of the economy we all find ourselves living in currently. I really do think that we should just all appreciate the fact that those of us that have jobs should be thankful. I certainly am.
Teachers: Do not ratify the proposed contract. It stipulates that teachers will only be given a step and COLA if the county council provides the extra funds. That is ludicrous. HCPS should be able to fund the step and COLA regardless of what the county council does. If that means cutting programs, cutting central office admin, cutting teachers, closing schools, etc. than so be it. Unless teachers realize that and oppose this contract, we will continue to be in the situation we find ourselves.
I would offer an alternative perspective. If you do not ratify, you will give up everything else and will guarantee that HCPS is not obligated to give you anything. the county council has asked for specific numbers. By ratifying the contract, you will give the numbers to them.
Who cares what the county council asks for? They have never and will never move money from one department’s budget to the school system’s budget. If you actually believe they will do that you have no business being the HCEA president. I cannot believe you want teachers to trust a county council that has never done anything but make excuses as to why they cannot increase the school system’s budget. I will admit that the other negotiated items in the proposed contract are steps in the right direction, but without a step increase those other items are irrelevant and they basically tell the school system that once again, teachers don’t need a salary increase. After awhile (if it hasn’t already happened) the school system will believe that teachers never need a salary increase. The school system needs to get the message from teachers that we are not willing to sacrifice our own children for the other children in this county. The school system needs to make the cuts necessary to provide teachers the steps they desperately need. If that means cutting programs and increasing class sizes than so be it. If the school system is not willing to do that then the HCEA needs to go back to the negotiating table and get language in the contract that requires the school system to guarantee salary steps. If the school system won’t agree to that, HCEA needs to declare an impasse and take it to a mediator and then the PSLRB.
Neither HCEA nor the PSLRB can force HCPS to fund the contract if the funds are not available. I wish we could. HCEA is continuing to work with the county council to seek the additional funds. Failure to ratify does not accomplish any of your desired goals.
Otherwise I agree. I know everyone is hurting. I am in the same boat. HCEA is doing the best that is legally possible to take care of the our teachers.
Of course neither the HCEA nor the PSLRB can force HCPS to fund salary steps. But your belief that that county council will provide funds is wishful thinking. This problem is not going to be solved by what the HCEA can do by working with HCPS. Haven’t the last 6 years provided enough evidence of that? This problem is going to be solved by what the HCEA doesn’t do, starting with not ratifying this contract unless salary steps are guaranteed. If HCPS won’t agree to that, the HCEA needs to stop all negotiations….period. Until that message is heard by HCPS, this little game you are playing by getting teachers scraps from the table makes the HCEA about as useful as the pope. Otherwise this snowball is just going to continue to grow. You need to lead teachers, not placate them. Difficult times require leaders to ask those who follow them to make difficult decisions like don’t give up your salary steps for 2 less days of work, don’t come to school during the week of HSA’s, don’t coach, don’t teach in Harford County, etc. And if you don’t know how or are not willing to anonymously call for a county-wide sick day during the week of HSA’s or the first day of school next year or every second Thursday of every month next year, then you don’t belong being the HCEA president. That sounds pretty juvenile, but not nearly as juvenile as the lies that I hear from the county executive, the county council and HCPS that there is not enough money to fund salary steps for teachers AND ALL COUNTY EMPLOYEES. There is enough money. They just don’t want to reduce services or raise taxes in order to afford them. Well it’s time that the HCEA make it clear to them that balancing their budgets on the backs of the county employees who provide those services is unacceptable.
The leaders of HCPS are supposed to make decisions that make teachers able to come to work everyday and work as hard as they can to help their students learn. It’s time the HCEA send a clear message to the leadership of HCPS that the decisions they’re making aren’t good enough….that HCPS needs to cut whatever it takes to make its teachers able to do what they were hired to do.
Again, not ratifying the contract will not accomplish the goals you list. I agree that in the past the county council has not been forthcoming with additional funds. We must work through the process to seek the additional funds. We must hold the county executive and county council accountable if the funds are not forthcoming again. Likewise, when the decision is again at the Board of Education how to reconcile their budget, we must make it clear that teachers must receive their steps this year and must not be left out of consideration again. I understand your passion and frustration. I do not know how much more clear a message I can send than what I have already said and done. Please contact me.
You are wrong. Not ratifying the contract will accomplish the goal of making it clear to HCPS that unless teacher’s receive a salary step, by what ever cuts are necessary, then what ever else they have to offer is unacceptable. I don’t know how much clearer I can be about what the priority (not priorities) of HCEA should be. If HCPS won’t agree to guaranteed salary steps, then teachers need to take action to reduce the services that they provide. But taking small handouts is only going to continue this cycle of static salaries. How many more years are you willing to accept handouts without any salary steps? 1 more? 2 more? 10 more? How can you tell a fifth year teacher that they won’t make any more money for 5 of the last 6 years, but the HCEA still wants you to ratify the contract? Instead, why won’t you stand with them and say, you know what, that sounds ridiculous? Tell them the contract isn’t good enough unless they are guaranteed a salary step.
Please contact me if you have specific questions.
U.S. News and World Report came out with their opinion of the top 40 Maryland High Schools. Interesting that Allegheny High School was on that list but not one high school in Harford County was. Not one. Someone in these comments characterized the children in that county as going to school with duct tape holding their shoes together. I have not seen that, but, if so, they are to be congratulated for investing in their education and future. It is not just about the money; it is about the attitude shown by so many people in some of the comments above. I don’t blame teachers. I blame the negativity toward the school system.
The US News rankings are based on the AP challenge index which is simply a measure of how many AP exams you give compared to your senior class. Many of those schools mandate AP tests to enroll in the class and pay for them. That is the key to getting on that list!
According to the news release, the report was based on performance on AP tests, student/teacher ratio, and performance on state exit exams in math/reading. Maybe Harford County didn’t fare well with the student/teacher ratio compared to other counties?
Took a look and you are correct. One area we feel down on was Teacher Student Ratio. The data is three years old and that was before the recent staff reduction.
Who cares what the county council asks for? They have never and will never move money from one department’s budget to the school system’s budget. If you actually believe they will do that you have no business being the HCEA president. I cannot believe you want teachers to trust a county council that has never done anything but make excuses as to why they cannot increase the school system’s budget. I will admit that the other negotiated items in the proposed contract are steps in the right direction, but without a step increase those other items are irrelevant and they basically tell the school system that once again, teachers don’t need a salary increase. After awhile (if it hasn’t already happened) the school system will believe that teachers never need a salary increase. The school system needs to get the message from teachers that we are not willing to sacrifice our own children for the other children in this county. The school system needs to make the cuts necessary to provide teachers the steps they desperately need. If that means cutting programs and increasing class sizes than so be it. If the school system is not willing to do that then the HCEA needs to go back to the negotiating table and get language in the contract that requires the school system to guarantee salary steps. If the school system won’t agree to that, HCEA needs to declare an impasse and take it to a mediator and then the PSLRB.
Neither HCEA nor the PSLRB can force HCPS to fund the contract if the funds are not available. I wish we could. HCEA is continuing to work with the county council to seek the additional funds. Failure to ratify does not accomplish any of your desired goals.
Otherwise I agree. I know everyone is hurting. I am in the same boat. HCEA is doing the best that is legally possible to take care of the our teachers.
I agree with not ratifying the contract. Once again it would make us succumb to undue demands without proper pay. While I am not happy that Craig underfunded the schools yet again, he did say that he gave 2.3 million over last year, for which $1.9 million should be used for step increases. Since that was the intention, I personally feel that is how it should be used. Programs and positions should be cut, as if we did not receive that $1.9 million of MOE. However, the school board will only continue to see the deficit and say they can’t “afford to pay for steps.” It’s a lose, lose situation. Hence the reason I am looking for employment in other districts and states, where teachers are semi-respected and not used as a political pawn.
Not ratifying does not guarantee steps. The best chance we have to get steps is to ratify and pursue the funding from the county council..
We’ve been there and done that to no avail!! How is it that other jurisdictions have limited to no issues funding teacher steps. There is no solutions created by the union. No solutions created by the board of education. No solutions created by the county council and certainly no solution from the executive himself. Instead it’s a continuous game of monkey in the middle, where the teachers remain in the middle between sets of people who only seem to care about themselves. Additionally, they often ridicule teachers for taking action and wonder why teachers continually leave the system. So tired of politics!!!
HCEA is working toward solutions. We have bargained the best available contract.
The problem begins with the lack of funding from the county executive.
If we cannot get our elected officials to address the issues with funding, we need to replace them.
Other jurisdictions are funding their schools.
I am with you stuck. I understand your frustrations. However, not ratifying the contract will not get you your steps, will not send a louder message than has already been sent and will not move us closer to a solution.
Did anyone else enjoy the post from “Non Union” , calling everyone a loser while they post their “rant” at 1:36?
If you are really so great and highly respected teacher for 9 years (LOL) at Bel Air Middle, there just must not be much quality employee’s at that dump.
I like the other reply to ask for a transfer to a Route 40 school. You wont have nothing with dealing for mostly the rich yuppie’s kids who at least have some sort of ambition in life after K-12.
BOE needs to cut positions, increase class room size, eliminate bus routes, cut extra curricular activities (pay to play) cut subjects not needed to graduate, redesign career paths and stop doing more than what is absolutely needed to provide minimum standards per state requirements. Until that happens, the parents could care less because no one wants to pay more in taxes and there is no pressure on the elected officials to provide the needed funding to maintain the current levels of services.
The same goes for county employees, deputies and library employees. As long as the customer gets the same level of service, there is no pressure on the elected officials to provide the needed funding to fund a raise and they rather spend the revenues on other things such as land dumps, empty prisons, empty recreation centers and internet systems (10 million) as well as new emergency operations building (as if the prior building wasn’t viable) The taxpayer can just sit and see the same drama being played out year after year. I am on my way out myself, had enough of helping people that make more than me with less education, responsibility and duties. At this point, I can’t even get a pt job in my field as long as I work here because of a conflict of interest! Doesn’t even matter that I would work in a different county! Had enough of this nonsense.
I have utmost empathy for the sheriff’s deputies and county workers. What is being done to our public servants is flatly wrong.
@ Ryan Burbey – As a student of data and trends, I have changed my rating on your client’s position from a sell to a hold. I feel that your opposition has overreached and may experience a couple modest corrections. In my world, I have found that reality and the perception of reality are not usually the same. Both can be used to advantage or disadvantage. The art and science of manipulation and salesmanship are key skills in the politics of success. Your opposition has been easily winning the game because your side’s skill set needs a major upgrade. Remember – the enemy of your enemy could be your friend at least for now.
I probably am not the best salesman. I am too passionate, too vested in the outcomes and too committed to my stakeholders. I have endeavored to present facts, truth and honesty. I have not hidden teachers inherent self-interest in raising funding but also present the numerous parallel reasons for increasing funding. Our teachers and public servants deserve better. Our citizens deserve better. Investment in education will benefit every citizen of the county. Investment in education is economic development.
Ryan
Pretending that bloated teacher’s salaries in Allegany County has been an “economic development,” benefiting every “citizen of the county” is like attaching the arms and legs of Agamemnon to Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.
It all depends on your perspective. Where I come from originally, NJ, every town/township runs their own school district. As such, the redundant infrastructure overhead cost are staggering. When I moved here, with a county-wide system, and associated economies of scale, I saw an immediate annual property tax decrease for a similar size home. NJ residents wish they had county wide systems to reduce overall costs and as a result their property tax bills.
In fact, in today’s Asbury Park Press (27 April 14/page AA4) an article titled “Redirect merger efforts in N.J.” discusses this topic, and states in part, ” . . . with schools, fire districts and independent authorities, or with county or regional absorption of municipal services. The potential savings from consolidations are substantial. Maybe not on the order of 20 to 25 percent, as suggested by supporters of consolidation a decade ago. But that is where attention needs to be redirected.”
So in reading all this discussion about cost, and the way schools are run, I’d still advocate Maryland’s model as one that NJ seriously needs to explore. Coming from someone who lived with a different business model and related expenses, the schools are run pretty well here.
You are talking to deaf ears when trying to convince the bloated pigs of their waste compared to NJ. There are 10 high schools in the county, 3 are above 90% enrollment There are 33 elementary schools. It doesn’t take a masters degree to see where millions of dollars can be redirected to pay teachers what they are asking for, it’s just easier trying to squeeze the taxpayers that have no children in the school system.
Actually they would rather spend a few million on the HVAC at Norisville Elementary when that is a school that could easily be closed down and students and teachers could go to North Harford Elementary and North Bend.
I came here from Ohio, which is similar to NJ in that each town has its own school system. While a county-wide system should have operational efficiencies, you also get to the point where the administrators outnumber the parents and the citizens lose control of it.
In a large system you get the usual empire-building. Every administrator needs a couple of assistant administrators, every principal needs several assistant principals, then they layer on the curriculum advisors, grief counselors, etc., and any efficiencies of size are lost to an ever growing bureaucracy. The teachers, who actually do the work that the schools were built for, also get lost in the shuffle.
For someone who bragged about being a highly respected teacher with a master’s degree, you would think you would be smart enough not to list your employment location (which school) with your employment tenure (9 years) while calling people losers, and ranting about your job.
How dumb can you be?
Just like everything else, “me first.” Every morning before the sun rises I’m driving some brown stain on toilet paper in a fancy stylish yuppie mobile passes me on double yellow somewhere in this county.
You can’t drive more than 10 minutes in this county anywhere at anytime without approaching another vehicle or traffic control device, stop sign, traffic signal.
You can’t leisurely drive for 10 minutes but you need to hurry up and wait at the next red signal. I laugh my ass off as they don’t really make any better time.