Roughly 24 hours before representatives from KIPP Baltimore and the Baltimore Teachers Union were due to be in Annapolis today, the two parties agreed to a postponement on a bill hearing that sought to allow KIPP teachers to override the union contract and vote in their own working conditions. 

The issue was taken up by city lawmakers who believed legislation was necessary to allow the school to operate its stringent and effective model of long school days and summer school without having to negotiate high overtime premiums for its teachers every year. The school has said it will close its doors on June 30 if it cannot come to a 10-year-agreement with the union on how it will operate its schools.

The two parties have until March 16 to come to an agreement. The bill hearing is rescheduled for that date.

Jason Botel, executive director of KIPP Baltimore, said Tuesday that KIPP and the union were heavily negotiating in good faith to stop the closure of the organization's two high performing schools. Read a letter from Botel that explains the latest.