From Harford County Public Schools:
On March 3, 2016, negotiators for the Board of Education of Harford County (the Board) reached a tentative agreement with the Association of Harford County Administrative, Technical and Supervisory Professionals (AHCATSP) on behalf of the approximately 83 Harford County Public Schools employees that it represents. The tentative agreement between the Board and AHCATSP, subject to necessary fiscal support as outlined in the negotiated agreement, translates into members of that unit receiving a two (2) step advancement on the pay schedule and a two (2) percent cost of living adjustment (COLA) applied to the pay schedule. Additionally, AHCATSP has tentatively agreed to additional contract language items for assault leave, maternity leave and sick leave.
This contract will be in effect for three (3) years beginning on July 1, 2016, and ending on June 30, 2019.
At this time, the Board has agreements or tentative agreements with four of the five bargaining units: AHCATSP, the Harford County Educational Services Council (HCESC), the Association of Public School Administrators and Supervisors of Harford County (APSASHC), and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). The tentative agreements with AHCATSP and HCESC are scheduled for ratification by the Board on April 11, 2016.
The Board began negotiations with the Harford County Education Association (HCEA), representing teachers, in November 2015. At HCEA’s request, the Public School Labor Relations Board (PSLRB) declared the negotiations to be at impasse on March 17, 2016 over 18 HCEA proposals and two Board proposals.
Figures that Burbey’s crew can’t come to some kind of compromise with the Board. 18 proposals is crazy. Teachers work hard and want to be compensated, but everyone must give a little. This isn’t boom time for anyone. Let’s get it done.
This offer is based on getting millions of extra $$$ from Barry. If not – too bad and you get zip! We all know that “ain’t” going to happen. Get some good intel before you post BS. I have no horse in this race but prefer informed posts.
You are an idiot. The entire negotiations process is about compromise. No one ever gets all they want on either side.
Paul S Schatz. Get lost.
http://www.daggerpress.com/2014/04/29/baltimore-county-job-fair-aimed-at-luring-harford-county-teachers-gets-shut-down/
“This website attracts miscreants and haters. I have been avoiding it for several months and intend to do so for the rest of my life.”
Liar?
Why do you assume it’s Burbey who won’t comprimise, but not HCPS? Fact is, HCEA asked for about 20 contract adjustments,some very minor. HCPS denied EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM. Not counteroffered, DENIED. Comprimise means BOTH parties work to find an agreement, not one of them succumbs to the will of the other.
An aside…going through this process every single year is such a waste of time and energy that could be spent doing more productive things. Not to mention, it stirs up hostility between parties that would better work together for a common goal if they didn’t have this conflict year after year. Not being from here, it just looks like a disaster. Maybe if this is all you know, it’s just standard operating procedure, but as an outsider, UGHHHH!!!!
You sure know a lot about this for being an “outsider.”
Yes, I’m not originally from Harford County (or Maryland), but I’ve been here for about a dozen years.
Reading Mr Burbey’s demands on Dagger about wanting more time for lunch, etc, I bet those 20 contract changes weren’t just administrative changes like “they” to “he/she.” More likely, he wanted more pay for less work.
HCPS should push back.
Require teachers be available for one hour per day either before or after school hours for student assistance.
Decouple steps from seniority and couple them to supervisor and peer performance assessments.
If you’d leave your mom’s basement for 5 minutes and actually drive by a school, you’d see that your “free hour” already exists. When I pick up my child from the Y after school care, there are tons of cars still in the parking lot…and unless elementary students drive, I can only think that it must be teachers.
Kharn and Money Tree have a deep affection for teachers. I knew he would post his usual 1 cent of value. I am waiting for his other half. She is a bit late to the game.
So, paying HCPS teachers up to a total of about $30,000 less than the surrounding counties over the past 5 years isn’t punishment enough?
Sure, on top of that let’s force them to work another hour a day than the teachers who are already getting paid 5k more per year than they are! That’s one way to keep good teachers in your system…pay them less, make them work more, treat them like dirt. Intelligent, hard working people go out of their way to find positions like that, and will do just about anything to keep them…NOT!!!
I look forward to seeing you at the next board meeting, where you get up and publicly present this idea of yours. You will do that won’t you? I mean, you’re not just another blowhard hiding behind the anonymity of the internet, right?
Says the person using the annonymous name “Relax.”
Amirite? Yep.
Please “reply” and “tell me how it is.” I can’t wait to laugh more.
Please, type up more paragraphs wasting your life away, like I am doing, replying to you. LOL
Well, but I’m not the one on here making grandiose statements about how, after the way HCPS teachers have been treated for the past half decade compared to their colleagues in surrounding counties, deserve to be further squeezed. ESPECIALLY when one considers how well our students have fared during this time. I see no evidence that the teachers of HCPS have shortchanged their students during this time. I haven’t heard of a single concert, drama production, or sporting event that was cancelled due to inability to find teachers to run them. I haven’t heard of test scores or rankings dropping.
I would have absolutely NO problems standing up before the board and the public and stating that the teachers absolutely deserve a raise, and deserve to be applauded for the way they’ve handled the austerity that other counties seemed to be able to find a solution to. I would just like to know if the person above, who suggested that teachers be further squeezed would be willing to stand up and state their viewpoint as well. I strongly doubt it.
You ain’t never been right but who’s counting.
HCPS just needs to create more +$60,000 office jobs to claim they can’t pay who’s really worth the money. Titles like: Supervisor in Home Culture Economics, Supervisor of Creativity in Social Strategic Elements and various other BS terms/positions that well outfitted people with degrees (notice: I didnt proclaim they were intellegent and worth it) can get and really do nothing all day.
Quite a few of those positions are federally mandated. Not federally funded, mind you, but federally mandated.
Some people are so blind. Harford county is so behind on paying employees its pathetic. If someone would put the list together of all the useless property they have purchased over the last ten years people would be shocked. If any of you think Harford County is a poor county your insane. Take your time and read some of the 1000 page budget and you’ll probably faint.
Speaking of useless property how about the 10 acre field on rt1 behind the Highs in Darlington. County just paid half a million for it, I sure hope they were collecting tax on that amount before the sale.
Yes! Let’s give admins raises first, said no teacher ever!!! Really…..
This isn’t about who gets something first or last. It’s the negotiation process. Some groups obviously are taking longer than others.
Yes, this happens every year! Say what you want about Burbey, in all my years in HCPS, I’ve never seen a President who has advocated more than he has. Even in the midst of all the controversy, character bashing, and blatant disrespect from central office, he still continues to fulfill his responsibility ~ advocating for teachers. I think he deserves much more respect because it’s all personal. The superintendent and her cronies are ruthless. It’s no mistake that they haven’t come to an agreement with HCEA, it’s designed to discredit Burbey. It wouldn’t surprise me if all the other bargaining units receive what they’ve bargained for and HCEA members get nothing. It would be unheard of, but it’s just to polarize teachers and continue to create a hostile environment ~ that’s the Harfod County way since Canavan has been superintendent. There is no doubt that teachers deserve raises. Wouldn’t it be nice if a negotiated agreement could mandate RESPECT AND COMPASSION too! Teachers definitely deserve that – from central office!
Thanks for the input, Ryan. Great job avoiding the use of ‘I’ and ‘me’.
I truly hope teachers do get this raise…it is deserved. But lets NOT forget about all the other county employees that have gone with out raises year after year and year just like the Teachers. Our pay scales are far behind where they should be. ALL employees need to get a raise and a COLA.
This isn’t a raise for teachers.
So administrators are getting the raise, not teachers?
I was told it was for asst.principals,principals ,etc. Not teachers. You know the people already making 100,000 a year
The salary portion of the contract for principals and assistant principals is tied to the teachers contract. Whatever the teachers negotiate, the principals and assistant principals receive the same. If teachers get no raise, same thing for principals and assistant principals.
Not true – not so fast. Wow is correct.The admin group gets their deal plus the “me too” automatic upgrade if the teachers’ union contract is a better pay/COLA deal. Kind of a best of all worlds deal. Teachers’ contract deal is not tied to the other groups in the same way.
Since HCEA has gone to inpass the BOE could honor the AHCATSP contract even if teachers get nothing.
This is just HCPS trying to make teachers/HCEA look bad in the public eye. The key statement here is “subject to necessary fiscal support as outlined in the negotiated agreement”. HCPS has used that statement as their way to not honor the agreed upon contract for 5+ years. Promise things that you can’t follow through on then let that little clause save you from actually trying to find the money. Meanwhile, the reason HCEA rejected that same offer for teachers is because the little catch that was left out was that if they accepted that offer, HCEA had to agree to not discuss any contract language/working conditions/after school duties etc. for 3 years. (the 18 proposals the board is stating to make HCEA look greedy). So in essence, HCPS was dangling the promise of money it didn’t have (and wouldn’t honor using their fiscal support loophole) to get HCEA to lose the ability to discuss any other issue for 3 years. Because you can bet they’d force honoring the HCEA part of the contract even when they didn’t honor theirs. Our students score high on standardized tests because of the teachers willing to shoulder all the extra paperwork that has hit us the past few years, not because of anything the Board of Ed is doing. The whole process is pathetic. All it does is make our county look bad, new teachers leave for other counties and veteran teachers retire the minute they can.
Government contracts always include clauses allowing the government body to terminate the agreement without penalty for lack of funds.
Im a teacher, I’m only doing enough work not to get fired.
Just another spoke on the wheel who made a bad choice to get into one of the worst careers currently in this country, but hey, it better than not working.
Im getting into another career after this school year is over.
…you’re not a teacher. Even the worst teachers know how to use and spell contractions.
Who cares what you think? Especially making comments to losers like you.
I am a teacher too and am upset about the lack of pay, but you ought to be ashamed of yourself for that post. You have kids that are relying on you to do your best every day. Best doesn’t equate with minimum.
Relax. KMA is not a teacher. He’s just trying to make teachers look bad. Don’t fall for it.
“Citizen” that’s your opinion.
HCPS educators can do just enough work not to get their job terminated.
Come up with a different system that HCPS can adopt based on employee performance for retention methods.
Ain’t happening, when the Pickens are slim to begin with.
Hey KMA
I agree that this is an attempt by the board of ed and HCPS to look good, after the debacle of hiring a lawyer for $225 an hour to conduct an investigation about whether the open meetings law was violated when they met in people’s homes on the budget. Some of this is old news and was in an earlier press release. The AHCATSP agreement and the impasse with HCEA are about the only new items. The impasse with HCEA (a big development) is buried at the end of the press release. The board of ed needs some news to look good, especially after wasting money on the investigation. They could have gotten the state open meetings law compliance review board to conduct a review of the home budget meetings and give an opinion at no cost to HCPS.
Relax. KMA is not a teacher. He’s just trying to make teachers look bad. Don’t fall for it.
Disregard my post. I’m ignorant.
Disregard the above post. It was posted by KMA, who is clearly not a teacher.
It’s amazing how so much false information gets put on these pages. All of the other unions negotiated items that were not monetary. Any raises the other groups get will be the same as the teachers. Remember all the other groups haven’t received the same steps or cola’s over the years as well.
Yes indeed, and ain’t that peculiar that you would suggest such a thing.