Wisconsin and Maryland are very different states
Teachers watching the eruptions in Wisconsin that are spreading to other states as quickly as revolts are catching fire in Arab countries have to feel lucky they teach in Maryland. They may be battling over how evaluations should be done, but those are small skirmishes compared to the fights to protect their right to bargain everything but wages. And the unions won a major victory a year ago when the legislature gave them an arbitration panel, taking disputes out of the hands of school boards, in some instances. The unions want to protect their pensions and health care benefits. But for private sector employees who have seen wages and benefits cut in the past five years, resentment is growing against unions who show no sensitivity to those declines.
Baltimoresun.com's 
Comments
Although it may not come to the extreme that is being considered in Wisconsin, the lack of significant changes in Maryland will have to be addressed at some point. The state just can't afford to continue on the current path without major changes. And the "arbitration panel' that you reference is going to cost school systems, counties, and the state a ton of money over the long haul as they make binding decisions that will most likely lean toward the interests of the unions rather than management.
Posted by: Jeff | February 23, 2011 10:48 AM
To say "unions have shown no sensitivity to the declines" in private sector wages and benefits is misinformation. The truth is union power over private sector job-quality has declined steadily under extremely anti-union legislation over the last 30 years. This article outlining this history in Mother Jones is informative and explains the problem we face today.
http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/income-inequality-labor-union-decline
Current jealousy in the private sector over public-sector union-protected job security is being fanned by corporate interests out to break the political power of unions. Let's hope that working people everywhere see their own futures in this battle.
Posted by: Robin Bingham | February 23, 2011 11:48 AM
It shocks me that the private sector working class in this country is this gullible. The Republicans are not fighting for you when they want to screw over firemen, police, and teachers. Do you really think this country can pay off a mulit trillion dollar debt on the backs of some of the lowest payed professions in the nation? Cutting some teachers or policemans pathetic salary a few thousand dollars will not even beging to dent this huge budget problem. The republicans have created this crisis by cutting taxes over the last 30 years while not reducing spending on anything other then services. They continue to spend money like water on the military, tax breaks for corporations, and earmarked projects for their districts. Then when the bill comes due, they want to attack the working class. They never consider raising taxes back to pre Reagan levels. Of course we can not afford to continue to pay the same for services if we reduce our tax rate year after year. The solution is not to cut necessary services like education, healthcare, and fire/police. They need to figure out what burden we all must share together as a society and what the best percentages are for each segment to bear, and pay the bills that we as a society owe. This nation is acting like a bunch of selfish children that are turning on each other right now. As the working class turns on itself the wealthy are taking advantage and stepping on our necks. I hope America wakes up because right now we are asleep at the wheel
Posted by: s.hoffman | February 25, 2011 4:24 PM