Im disturbed that the school system would post a message, an opinion piece, on a publicly funded website paid for by tax payers in this county. This person is not an employee or associated with HCPSS anymore. I found that it disparages the union for working to secure a decent benefit package for their hardworking educators in this county. Im not an educator in Howard County, but Im a resident of Howard County and I have a child that will be attending HCPSS soon. So, when I read a posting by HCEA I felt the need to respond to this Facebook post and share it. HCEA Posted: Over this school year, thousands of educators like you took action to support some very simple ideas. We need more time to plan, more time to collaborate, better access to technology, and compensation improvements. Despite your overwhelming presence as the negotiations and budget processes went forward, the Board of Education has rejected proposals addressing the most important issues. Lately, its public messages (which now include uninformed opinions from a former superintendent) are misleading. We write to you today to express several important facts about the unresolved proposals at the bargaining table: 1. While the Board’s rhetoric have changed, the proposals actually offered at the table have not changed. HCEA proposes a two year agreement with two on-time steps and two 4% COLAs. The BOE offers a one year agreement with a 3% COLA (cost-of-living adjustment) on July 1, 2014, and one step delayed until March 2015. Educators will realize only 1/4 of the dollar value of step increment as opposed to a full step increment if it was implemented July 1, 2014 2. Because the Board has steadfastly refused to discuss a multi-year agreement, it is not safe to assume scheduled step increases will occur in 15-16; it is not safe to assume health benefits and working conditions will continue at current levels. Eighteen of 22 Maryland counties have made multi-year agreements with educators. 3. We believe our educators should be treated with the same fairness and consideration as our local police and firefighters, who have reached a two-year agreement with county government providing two on-time steps and two 4% COLAs. 4. The Board has failed to negotiate planning time to allow teachers prepare great lessons, collaboration time among paraeducators and teachers, and guaranteed access to technology for all school employees, among other things. As HCEA Directors, we take our responsibility to you very seriously. Pursuant to our bylaws, we delegated negotiations power to five-person teams for teachers and support professionals. They worked diligently since then, and made great progress moving the Board from its initial 0.5%/no-steps proposal. After much deliberation with the Teams, we (HCEA’s Board of Directors) unanimously voted to give the negotiation teams authority to declare impasse. The decision was then discussed and vetted at the June 10, 2014 Representative Assembly. The teams and staff are busy preparing to move this process forward to the Maryland Public School Employee Labor Relations Board mediation/arbitration process. Our negotiators, staff, and democratic bodies have done exactly as they should in this difficult environment. To our knowledge, every single HCEA member has conducted themselves with dignity and discipline as we reached consensus on these difficult questions. A word on what happens next. School will end tomorrow, and summer will begin with the mediation process at the Labor Relations Board. We will continue to engage you for input and action over the summer months. We will keep you informed of any progress made. When a tentative agreement is reached, ALL HCEA MEMBERS will receive the details and ALL HCEA MEMBERS will vote on the negotiated package. No matter how it turns out, we will zealously advocate for a fair agreement that benefits our community, our students, and our educators. Sincerely, The HCEA Board of Directors Paul Lemle, President Anna Gannon, Vice President, MSEA Director (GCES) Colleen Morris, Treasurer (Guilford ES) Teri Dennison, Secretary (Central Office) Anne Cavanaugh, HCEA Director (Clarksville MS) John Eckstrom, HCEA Director (Folly Quarter MS) Linda Firman, HCEA Director (Cradlerock ES) Doug Lea, HCEA Director, NEA Director (DRES) Stephanie Livesay, HCEA Director (School Psychologist) Donna Schulze, HCEA Director (Phelps Luck ES) Mary Stein, HCEA Director (Cluster Nurse) Matthew Vaughn Smith HCEA Director (Bollman Bridge) On salary: HCEA proposes a Two (2) Year Agreement: • Effective July 1, 2014: 4% COLA (cost of living adjustment) plus increment (“steps”); and the compression of salary scale to step 27. • Effective July 1, 2015: 4% COLA plus increment (“steps”). The BOE current offer: a One (1) year Agreement ONLY: • Effective July 1, 2014 3% COLA • Effective March 1, 2015: Increment • (This means that educators will realize only 1/4 of the dollar value of step increment as opposed to a full step increment if it was implemented July 1, 2014.) Funds are available in the BOE Budget to implement the COLA and step increment effective July 1. Over the past several years, our compensation has fallen below other jurisdictions. Under today’s favorable economic conditions and with a healthy county government financial picture, our proposal is fair and is deserved. To catch up with Montgomery (before new MCPS agreement takes effect), HCPSS employees would need a 14.8% COLA. • Montgomery Co: three year agreement, 4 steps, 1.5%, 2%, 2% COLA (5.6%). • Baltimore Co: two year agreement, 2 steps, 3% bonus (lump sum) in year one, 5% COLA in year two. • Prince George’s: two year agreement, two steps, 1.5% and 1% COLA, reindex scales to create 3% increment value and 5% improvement for advanced degree • Howard police and fire fighters: two year agreement, 2 steps, 4% COLAs in both years (8.2%) • Offered by the Howard Board of Education: one year agreement, one step delayed until March 2015, 3% COLA on July 1, 2014.
Posted on: Sat, 21 Jun 2014 01:03:09 +0000
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