From Tom Fitzpatrick, Harford County Board of Education member and candidate in District F:
Why I voted for Harford’s Schools
A few weeks ago, I had the honor of attending the Harford County Public School’s Service Recognition Dinner. This is an annual banquet, where the system honors and acknowledges the dedication of the teachers and staff who educate our children and help build Harford County’s future. I was seated with folks from Havre de Grace Elementary School, where people with 10, 20, 30 and even 40 years of service were being honored, including one former Teacher of the Year.
I had to wonder; why are these people smiling???????
For weeks and months, we on the Board, and over in the County Council had been constantly harangued by the President and some members of the Harford County Education Association. Teachers are leaving in droves (our retention rate remains over 90%), morale is poor, people have no faith, we are told, over and over.
Yet, the faces that I saw at that dinner told a very different story. They told stories of passion, dedication and service. They believe in their profession, and they believe in the institution that is Harford County Public Schools. And they unanimously and enthusiastically thanked me and the Board for supporting a budget that contained no layoffs, and kept class sizes stable, even if it was at the expense of a cost of living increase.
But none the less; yes, they are suffering.
When I was appointed to the Harford County Board of Education two years ago, I found that I filling a board seat in an institution that was seriously troubled. The County government, by neglect or by design, had been systematically starving the system of funding for several years. As a result, the share of County tax revenue that Harford Countians invested in their children’s education had dropped from a high of about 53 cents on every dollar a decade ago, to about 45 cents today. The system had not been able to honor its financial commitments to its teachers for several years. We would eventually lay off over 200 people, and we cut programs and increased class sizes. The autocratic management style of the outgoing administration had depressed morale and contributed to an atmosphere of moribund paralysis.
That changed when this board appointed a new Superintendent. Overnight, Barbara Canavan began an outreach program that has reached every corner of our system from top to bottom. This year’s budget is a product of that process. It was launched from the bottom up, and nearly every single HCPS employee had some input in it. Oddly, one Board member and at least one candidate in this election have called for “zero based” budgeting, apparently without realizing that that is precisely how our current budget was constructed.
We faced an array of tough choices. How do we keep class sizes from growing? How do we avoid cutting more programs? Can we finance our commitments to our employees? Can we avoid fees? Will we have to lay even more people off? How do we cope with the large number of state and federal mandates that are imposed on us, and which we have to fund?
When the County informed us that, once again, they were not going to fund our budget, we had to confront all of these tough questions anew. So, when I met with the Superintendent and senior staff to go over what they were proposing, I expected to be handed a Chinese menu of layoffs, program cuts, fees and the like.
Instead, Mrs. Canavan’s “miracle budget” contained no layoffs, worked to keep class sizes from growing, and preserved the professional development efforts that many people in the system have told me they value greatly (especially as we move into the era of the Common Core).
I was not happy that we could not honor our cost of living or step commitments for our teachers one more year. None the less, I recalled the angst and unhappiness when the Board laid people off in order to finance a onetime payment to our teachers two years ago. I felt that this was not the way to go. Indeed, my feeling was vindicated when the leaders of the unions that represent our support staff all came to our meetings to argue AGAINST more layoffs.
I chose to speak out forcefully for the Budget that our Board adopted. We serve all of the people of Harford County. As we looked down the list of tough choices, and confronted the options, the way forward was very clear.
After our first meeting on the Budget, a funny thing happened.
Out on the campaign trail, people started thanking me for taking the position I took. As I walked my district and people opened their doors to me, I had the chance to talk to teachers, secretaries, custodians, and staff members from our System. Many of them thanked me profusely for the supporting our Superintendent, even if it meant no additional money in the paycheck this year. People came up to me at campaign events, social events and even in restaurants and said the same thing.
The most recent incident was on the deck at Macgregor’ in Havre de Grace, where a teacher came up to me and thanked me in very emotional terms for taking a strong stance in support of keeping our system stable, and keeping her colleagues on the job.
These people are inspiring. They are dedicated. They believe in their calling and they are intensely loyal to the institution that is Harford County Public Schools. They have been asked to sacrifice a lot. And, despite what you may hear from some quarters, they have stepped up and given of themselves in these tough times.
It is to these people that I make this pledge.
I will fight to restore our teacher’s paychecks to the levels that are reflected in our contract. I know I am not alone in this commitment. As I write this, planning and strategizing on how to accomplish this goal has begun. I can’t guarantee the outcome. But I can guarantee my commitment.
Next year, we will have a new government in Bel Air, a new County Executive and a new Council. They will face very tough choices, and we at HCPS and the Board of Education will have to work closely with them.
One of those tough choices must be a commitment to honor the sacrifice and dedication of the people behind the smiles that I saw at the Services Recognition Dinner. The support that they expressed for me, the Board and Superintendent Canavan is uplifting and inspiring. They have stepped up and offered their services and loyalty for all these last lean years.
We owe it to them to honor their commitment.
These are the people we count on to help build the future. If we short change them in the long run, we short change ourselves.
Tom Fitzpatrick
Harford County Board of Education
District F
HDG girll says
He loses every election, he has failed at most attempts to actually do anything productive in Havre de Grace. Now he wants to further screw up the schools.
He ought to run for SPCA since he loves the pooches
Sparky says
I remember the time being in a bar and his G/f coming in crying because of the “Dog Incident”
different roster+different game plan = different results? says
What disappoints me the most is that there was plenty of time to come up with a plan and implement it. Again this year, everyone was aware of the politics involved and that significant additional funding wouldn’t occur. Instead, the decision was made to be reactive rather than proactive. Now, it will be up to the voters of each district to deliver their verdict.
Sam Adams says
He’s had 2 years and has made no impact. Bye bye.
RANT!!! says
There is really no need to bring the teacher’s salaries up to scale or to give them a raise of any kind. Simply put, the teachers in this county will continue to do everything they’ve been doing for the last X number of years whether they get raises or not. They may SAY they’re going to work to contract and all sorts of similar threats, but when it gets right down to it, they’ll maintain the status quo of giving way more for way less. In the past six years, how many sporting events have been canceled because there were no teachers to chaperone them? How many athletic teams folded for lack of a coaching staff? How many schools didn’t have plays, musicals, concerts, etc, because teachers refused to go above and beyond?
This is not to say they don’t deserve their money, but honestly teachers, you’re the ones who are shooting yourselves in the foot. If you want to blame someone for your lack of salary increases, don’t blame Craig or the council or the board. Blame yourself! You are the ones who are treating your profession like it is volunteer work! If you are willing to work for free, should you really be shocked when people don’t want to pay you? So what…you’ll get fed up, maybe leave the county…and they’ll hire young, energetic kids who are willing to work on the cheap just as you once were! But it was YOU who agreed to the terms when you kept running sports, clubs, teams, bands, shows, for little or nothing, and insisted on doing it even as the county was shafting you year after year!
So now you are being paid the market rate for Harford County, the rate that you have demonstrated that you will work year after year without any decline in output. Next year you won’t get a raise again, because how many football coaches are going to quit coaching in protest of their lack of salary steps? How many musicals will be cancelled because teachers refuse to direct them? Will there be no bands at the July 4 parades because teachers refuse to direct them in protest of being denied 5 or 6 step increases? Of course not!
Now teachers, ask yourself this…if BGE decided to give you free power from now on, would you still insist on giving them money? Of course not! NO ONE willingly pays for something they know they can get for free, or for less. Now ask yourself this: how long would BGE give you power if you refused to pay your bill in full? NOT!!! But you have demonstrated your willingness to work on the cheap, and you will keep doing it even when you are shorted.
In this sense, you have eroded your own status as a professional. You want to be held in the same esteem as other professions? Well ACT like other professions! Attorneys don’t work cheap or for free. And they don’t keep providing service when their fees aren’t paid! CPA’s don’t either. Nor do doctors, engineers, network administrators, software designers, project managers, etc. You know who does? TEACHERS! And that’s precisely why you aren’t treated like a professional…because you don’t treat your business the way professionals do.
TEACHERS DESERVE ALL THEIR STEPS WITH LOST BACK PAY! I believe this. But salaries are not only based on what you deserve, they are based on market rate. Teachers, since you are willing to work for less and less, that is the market value you have established. So you should be given NOTHING. in fact you shouldn’t get a raise until we see where your bottom line is…when you stop working for cheap and free, then we’ll know what your bottom dollar is, and that’s what you should get.
Your only other option is to quit acting like your career is volunteer work, akin to babysitting. Stand up for yourselves, already, and quit letting people screw you without repercussions!!!
Rant over.
Title1Teacher says
This is the most absurd thing I have ever heard. You are blaming TEACHERS for keeping their commitment to CHILDREN? Yes, I am aware that we are being taking advantage of, but in the same regard that is not the fault of dedicated teachers. That is the fault of the government and their lack of respect for the love and devotion we have to our jobs and our children and the fact that NO MATTER WHAT we will not let this harm our students. As a teacher in a Title 1 school, I teach students who may get their only meals at school. They may get their only guided social interaction at school and during after school activities. I teach students who are scared to go home to a neighborhood full of violence and our after school activities are a place of comfort for them. The bottom line, is that YES we are underpaid. YES we were mislead in signing a contract promising pay based on our “number of years of experiences”. YES we are taking on 2nd jobs to support our own families, while still completing the continued education required in order to maintain our degrees. But teachers made a commitment to their students and their profession, and we will not let little lives suffer from the poor decisions of those higher up. Teachers TEACH, of course, but they also council, and feed, and console and encourage and love these children for a signifiant portion of their days, and THAT is not something that we will stop doing to prove a point.
RANT!!! says
GOOD!!! You have just validated every single point I just made! You will give to others families to the detriment of your own. You will let others use your kindness against you. Your attitude is admirable and if there were more people in the world like you the world would absolutely be a better place.
And as long as you keep believing that you have a professional/ethical/moral responsibility to continue as you have, you will also have no step increases, no cola, a second job, decreased time with your own family, no college fund for your own kids, etc.
Doctors also have a similar set of values. In fact they even have an oath. But their oath and their profession doesn’t mandate that they work on the cheap.
So thank you. You are clearly a wonderful person with a heart of gold. Now all you have to do is sit back and wait for the citizens to demand that their elected officials raise taxes so you can reap the financial rewards that you so richly deserve, just because you are so kind.
I’m not blaming teachers for their commitment to children any more than I’m blaming doctors for their commitment to sick patients. But doctors recognize the value of their profession and realize that they should be rewarded financially for the valuable human services they provide. That’s what makes medicine a profession. Teachers insist that their service will be available even when the people they are giving it to a screwing them out of a paycheck: remember, it’s the parents of the kids you are freely serving who keep voting people into office who agree to withhold your raises while simultaneously blaming you for all of societies ills.
People are simply not going to give you more of their money just because you have a caring attitude. Period. And the more you tell them you’ll do for free, the more you shouldn’t be surprised you end up doing for free.
And you have no right to blame them for not paying for things they can get for free. Now THAT is the most absurd thing I ever heard!
Burbey Bunch says
Rant-ta-ma-tude,
First of all, some of us actually had three jobs at one time in order to buy the things we wanted. You may not believe this but credit cards are a fairly new innovation. The first place you could get credit was generally Sears (sans mortgages and co-signers for car loans and such). So, working long hours and multiple jobs for low pay is really what life had all been about. We didn’t bitch and blame our situation on everyone else. As a general rule, hostile envy of others was supplanted by a sense that one day each of us could earn our way up the ladder.
Which leads to my point: what is wrong today is that there is a lack of opportunity. You don’t see the mass exodus of teachers because there is no great opportunity elsewhere. Previously, folks always knew they could drop one job and pick up another one like you could pick up a daily paper. Suffering low pay was a short term problem.
So, most older folks understand your frustration – but blaming the situation on some greedy local public only allows the politicians off the hook at the state and federal level – and that is really where the problem originates.
I wish you future success.
Jaguar Judy says
Uh, that would be ‘counsel’ not ‘council’. In the future you may want to create a post that reflects well on your profession by being grammatically correct.
Burbey Bunch says
Who isn’t hurting. Maryland has the second highest foreclosure rate in the entire country, 1 in every 624 homes! And, imagine a democrat candidate for governor (Gansler) running a tv ad condemning the 40 O’Malley tax increases.
You know things are bad all over the state. So, why aren’t we addressing our overall problems so we can pay our government employees more? Or, are we looking to hit one group of suffering folks to pay another group.
Sandra says
That’s what Progressives do silly.
So Long says
Fitzpatrick? Seriously? Dude, you rolled over for Canavan’s budget with no fight at all. You don’t UNDERSTAND the budget. You have no idea what you are doing on the Board, you have had NO impact on the Board, and you were no where to be seen in Annapolis back in February when HdG needed you the most to be down there fighting for their new school. Then you shamelessly post an editorial in the Aegis (the likes I have never seen in my 56 years) whining how you didn’t get any credit for the new HdG high school. Cause guess what….you had very little to do in getting the new high school. Just ask Mary Anne Lisanti who was actually there in Annapolis by herself! You are quite simply a Democratic party wannabe who can’t win any elections and so you had to ask your Democrat buddies to get you an appointment. For god’s sake you don’t even have any kids?!?! WHY WOULD YOU EVER WANNA BE ON THE SCHOOL BOARD??? Please get off the school board. You don’t belong on it.
Sad Teacher says
I heard all of Mr. Fitzpatrick’s promises, but when it came down to the vote on the budget, he caved in without a fight! I was there, I was in the audience. Several board members made attempts to fund teachers steps and Fitzpatrick sat there like a deer in headlights. He had no idea what to do so he DID NOT SUPPORT ANY ATTEMPT TO GIVE TEACHERS THEIR STEPS!!! Mr. Fitzpatrick lied to teachers when he said he would “fight” for them. He didn’t lift a finger to help teachers. He just swallowed the entire hook, line and sinker of the superintendent’s budget. I am so sad that we are represented by such poor leadership. Actually, he doesn’t represent me, I never voted for him. He was appointed. I can not vote in district F, but I pray so hard that the citizens of district F realize that we need better leadership on the board. The teachers, parents, and children deserve better!
Active Mom says
I am a Democrat and would be ashamed to have Fitzpatrick as a member of the party. I agree with So Long …get off the board. I was there. You just wanted to hurry up and vote. You are a disgrace to Harford County. You basically thought all you would do on the board would be shake hands and go to football games. You can do that on your time.
By the way, Fritsch is a whiner and all about himself too. He does not play well with others.
JD says
Nice try on spinning the ‘truth’, but Bob Fritch is the only BOE member who actually voted to fund a step increase for teachers. Oh, and with 200 positions that were unfilled, there would not have been any layoffs.
ROFL says
I agree – by not fighting for their salaries and giving their skills away for free, the remaining Harford County teachers are suckers. Many of them put on a positive attitude toward the pay freezes, position cuts an common core even if they don’t agree with it in order to save face for their conservative, union hating principals and central office administrators. My experience in Harford county lasted for 7 years. When I came in my school had the highest percentage of people in the union! I was so glad! The principal supported the union and wanted his teachers to join. Within 1.5 years he retired. The new principal mistreated teachers and hated the union. On my way out the teachers at the school were afraid to be union members. He union rep was being bullied by his principal and all kinds of unprofessional situations were comin to a head.
I loved my position in Harford County, and because they did not pay me enough and mistreated me. I left.
Good Enough Degree says
Drive down the fancy, shmancey neighborhood and tell me how many for sale, foreclosure, and public auction signs you see.
Maryland is the worst and probably one of the highest markets for real estate in multiple subjects.
What does that have to do with anything? It probably doesn’t, but you just spent time reading my post.
Feel free to fart in my direction for wasting your time.
Good Enough Degree says
We need to cut the fat. Like people who used to have perfectly functioning Blackberries get upgrades to IPhones. How many hundreds of IPhones cost how much?
How about all the goofy “Supervisor” positions in the school system? Talk about too many chefs in the Kitchen. Per the HCPS facebook page, tell me what the Supervisor of Equity and Cultural Proficiency does year round to justify a paid salary and the position of supervision?
Butt cheese says
Its amazing the amount of office personnel who leach a salary off bureaucracy.
I can’t imagine half the positions would remain after consultants showed up to interview each job title, if HCPS was any other job in the “private” sector.
Thumb me down all you want, but when Supervisors and Assistant Supervisors of Social Media becomes a salary job position at HCPS, I’ll have the last laugh.
Couple assholes getting paid 78,000 a year with a 4 year degree to post “updates” on Facebook, and “like” posts. Fart.
Pavel314 says
It would be interesting to compare the staffing levels at private K-12 schools in the area to those for the public schools. I would guess that the private schools are much leaner on the administrative fluff positions.
Keith Gabel says
I can attest that the staffing levels at private schools are much lower, at least on the elementary (K through 8) level.
That said, private schools have the right to pick and choose which students they take, which means that they have the option of not dealing with the social ills that the public schools must contend with on a daily basis. I cannot attest to the amount of staff that requires.
Additionally, many private schools lack the amenities that the public schools have, as they lack the purchasing power of something like a county.
Finally, like at my son’s school, many teachers are willing to earn less combined salary/benefits than their public counterparts due to their religious convictions, as well as their dedication to students.
Burbey Bunch says
Butt,
Please take notice that all you read in this forum (pretty much) is the hue and cry for work stoppage and such – which is to say victimizing the students. Ole Ryan the lyin’ hearted never goes after the system, just the taxpayers. He declares teacher poverty and mass exodus – leading the way himself to part the Red Sea – but never, oh never, a change in the bloated system.
I have posted many times that the taxpayers/parents in Harford County are not and have never been the problem. It is the state that dumped pensions, while subsidizing other counties, and the ever increased tax burden on everyone. Yet we are still painted as greedy, uncaring bumpkins.
Personally, sick of it.
Unite us all says
Let’s band all the groups together in a united front – govt. workers, sheriff’s dept. libraries, etc. The united voice will sound better than the perceived whining of teachers.
Sandra says
Good luck, they will at first completely ignore you. Then the second you become relevant and can no longer be ignored you will be deemed heretics, racists, terrorists. Tea Party anyone.
Burbey Bunch says
United,
I think that would just create more public awareness that government wants more – unless, that is, you want to unite with the public at large to change the system. For government workers to declare as a group you want more money – in an over burdened taxing environment – looks like a red flag to a backlash.
Your choice. But unless government workers out number everyone else – though we are getting there – you will draw attention to the general plight of the county. The biggest failure here is to see that we are in this together. On the state level it doesn’t matter because you have a mass of government and government dependency (poor and contractors). This is why O’Malley can go give speeches (as in recently) about how wonderful Maryland is with such high incomes – when in reality it is only a few districts in Montgomery County.
That's Right. says
About 7% of the American workforce are government employees. Sources:
http://www.businessinsider.com/percentage-of-americans-work-for-the-government-2012-7
http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikepatton/2013/01/24/the-growth-of-the-federal-government-1980-to-2012/
Burbey Bunch says
that’s wrong,
Nice try, but the subject at hand is MD, and more specific Harford County.
The percent of government employees in MD is 26% (Gallup) – the third highest in the country. Yes, we are getting there!! Add in government contractors and the dependency class and in Md you already have a majority!!
That is why 51% of the state’s income is government money. That is why, as a state, we are hopeless caught in a never ending cycle of increased taxes and increased spending. It is a death spiral and we are already in free fall.
rocco says
27% sounds awful high to me! I am assuming that you are counting all types of government workers such as APG, Federal, State and Local (including BOE). Your stats are a bit misleading since MD has a few federal agencies such NIH, NSA, Ft. Meade, and other federal agencies. I would assume the number is pretty high just because of the relative proximity to D.C.
HCG workforce is actually lower than it was 10 years ago when I started and we have had layoffs, retirements, attrition as well as people just leaving because it is actually pretty hard to work for HCG and live here as well (cost of living is high in HC relative to Cecil or PA.)
Once again you are playing with numbers as if you take APG out of the picture since they don’t server HC exclusively and are part of Department of the Army. In reality BRAC was to reduce federal expenses so the fact that we benefit is actually due to relocation and redistribution of federal programs and not an increase for HC benefit.
rocco says
HC office of Economic Development lists the following figures under Employers and Workforce Statistics:(it doesn’t list the year, but I am assuming the most current info available) Fugues are for Harford County!
Unemployment rate of 6.5
Civilian labor force 131,228
APG 16,221
HPCS 5,369
HCG 1,938
Upper Chesapeake 3,129
HCC 999
I don’t see numbers broken down by dept or agency (Sheriff, Courts, Library)
Total population for HC in 2010 census is 249,215 divided by 1938 county employees equals 1 employee per 128 citizens in the county. I think if you worked for the county you would see that depending on the position held, most people have more than enough clients to tend, service or provide assistance. By no means is HCG bloated with employees, in fact many departments are short-staffed and provide the best service possible under the circumstances.
Note that Upper Chesapeake has almost a third more employees than HCG for the same population.
Smell my fart says
The never ending cycle of fail.
Such example is all this “green energy” BS.
Huh? Electric Hybrid cars getting good MPG’s and not using as much gas is now getting to the point that they aren’t paying enough taxes. Every year the “Road tax”, is brought up, but sooner or later it will be given the status quo green light to proceed.
What a state of mental masturbation. We want to be more efficient, but wait a minute, now that we are, we all need to pay tax on pur miles traveled since there is a drop in money from getting fuel.
Many people express their dissatisfaction, yet we keep electing the same type of people, but hey, their TV commercials and political signs say good things.
Burbey Bunch says
Smell,
Just wait until the carbon tax hits. The man-made climate change lie with its phony models has so infiltrated government agencies, our educational system and the media that we are going to get whacked no matter what we do. Just think, everyone bought the lie of eugenics and that gave us Hitler. Everyone bought the ‘Silent Spring’ lie about DDT and that cost us millions of lives in Africa.
Burbey Bunch says
Rocco,
My 26% is a Gallup number from 2010 and is a MD total. As I have always stated, the problem with Harford County is the state – aided by Harford County government employees that vote for the same democrat state candidates. We have a left wing governor with lock step left wing state representatives – all supported by government employees.
The lower percentage of government employees in Harford County is why folks like Craig get elected. But that will never change our misery as long as the state is a one party state that is tax and spend left wing. That is my point.
Again, MD is third highest in the country in government employees. That is why MD was raising taxes during these difficult times when other states were lowering theirs. And again, combine the dependency class and the government contractors with the government employees and you have a lost cause.
rocco says
Whoa!!!, How do you know how HCG employees vote? As a county employee and I am not registered as either Republican or Democrat and in fact, from what I know of many county employees I would say that the majority are Republican or republican leaning. Most deputies, as well! People vote according to their moral beliefs too not just their pocket book. Under your general assumption then most military and military contractors would vote for bigger government regardless. in fact all kinds of reasons go into how one votes for a party or a person. I would agree with you that HCPS seems to be a little bloated from the figures above, with over 5,000 employees. I wonder how many of those actually provide direct services to students? BOE hasn’t yet made any efficiency moves to reduce their own expenses except for changing bus routes and charging extra fees. If BOE wants a raise they need to more to become leaner and a more efficient organization.
Burbey Bunch says
Rocco,
Can’t reach into individuals souls here but – also from Gallup we find that government employees are registered 2 to 1 democrat. It is actually greater than that if they are union. But just put your own logic hat on and see that with 26% government employees in MD, it easily explains why we are a one party state going down the crapper – the democrat crapper.
And, in fact, most people do vote what they think will impact their wallet – unless they are republicans that always stay home if they think someone might be a RINO.
Military and military contractors are really different. Military wants defense but the contractors want the most government money.
As far as most government employees voting conservative, I just don’t believe it. If government employees don’t vote the union candidate it would seem they would abandon their union. There are a lot of teachers in the union.
Burby Bunch says
Wow….I am sounding a lot like Kharn eh? Man I am a douchebag!
Stink says
Now that the Supreme Court ruled on Non Union members paying dues. What’s next?