Erica, an article on how the school system intends to afford these contracts is long overdue. Every faculty meeting we have had over the last 3 months has been about surplussing and cutting staff because we cannot afford teachers.

I thought there was a contingency on the new "revolutionary" contract that said the AU system would be in place in a set period of time (it is still unfinished). I thought there was a time period to show that the city could afford the new contract, yet all we hear about is cuts and buyouts. We're about to see a lot of good people lose their jobs because no one is checking the money. Please, please, please go dig and find out exactly how we're paying for all of this.

As always Brandon...the voice of reason. Thank you for highlighting exactly the point many teachers have been making. We were sold a bill of goods on this contract earlier this year and how we are cutting staff!!! Someone at North Ave. needs to be asked directly how it is that in a single year, we can BOTH grant raises and then cut teachers.

There is nothing revolutionary about a contract that gives raises and then cuts teachers. Nothing. It is shameful, negligent and woefully dismissive.

@Brandon & David - What is going on at BCPSS is a common pratice in the for profit world. Lay a couple hundred off, give those who remain a raise to keep them there and appease their fears. My experience is that those who remain have to work harder to cover for those let go so the increase is just compensation for the additional hours and effort. Good Luck

What I find interesting is that teachers are complaining about administrators getting a raise after they themselves just got a raise and a bonus. Perhaps they should have thought about cuts before ratifying their own contract.

@baltimoremom - the contract barely passed, so many, many teachers, myself included, voted against it. Plus, when it was voted on last fall we had no idea how dire the financial situation was.

Erica - agree with Follow the Money!
Time to look more deeply into "Fair" Student Funding.

@avalon - but it did pass. Perhaps it was the timing - how nice it must have been to get a bonus right before the holidays! I'm sure that little carrot helped sway some teacher decisions. What amazed me was that the contract was incomplete and lacked so many details - and yet it still passed!! I know not every teacher voted on it, but enough did to put it into play. Now it is time to sleep in the bed that was made by your union.

Could be time to think about how the unions are representing the best interest of the teachers - they don't seem to look at the district holistically at all, but in this environment, that is what needs to happen. I've gone without a pay raise for many, many years, while teacher salaries have continued to increase. I'd be willing to continue with no increase if it means jobs are saved. How about you and the other teachers? How about the unions?

@baltimoremom
good points, all. I hope you realize that you've gone without a raise for many many years largely because of weak labor laws and the lack of union representation in the private sector. The corporate sector has you believing exactly what they want you to believe: that if they raise your salary, others will go without jobs. Americans have sacrificed for 30 years (since the 70s) under this premise, and look around. The job market is as tight as ever, and we are quickly losing our middle class. Baltimore in 1970 was much healthier, more vibrant and strong than it is today. And today, there are more millionaires in America than ever before, and more poverty.

The average American wages have remained stagnant since the 70s, and we are still losing jobs.

You are right to point out that these days union representation is hardly holistic, creative or in line with the interests of our city. That's where unions need to change up. I hope they (I mean we-- I am a union member) do, and we all can better participate in the decisions that affect our own workplaces, our children, and our city.

However, in many places, unions are by law allowed only to negotiate on very narrow terms. In Baltimore, for example, the BTU is not allowed to strike, and we are not allowed to negotiate class-sizes, (a direct benefit to students.)

More and more, decisions that should be community-wide and democratic are made in boardrooms behind closed doors with votes from members largely a formality.

The recent contract fight illustrates that only too well. The fact that the contract failed the first time around was actually unprecedented, made national news and illustrated how much the union takes its members for granted.

And yes-- after several years of no cost of living increase, there were several huge financial incentives that helped the contract go through the second time around: the holiday bonus, the immediate promise of back-pay to reflect the wage increase, and the lure of huge jumps in salary for brand new teachers and for veterans who because they'd been in the system more than ten years would under the old contract, not be receiving a step-increase in salary (those same people were later offered a buyout so we could afford the contract.)

I'd also like to remind all that the school system shut down the distribution of opposing viewpoints almost completely by threatening principals and secretaries, while allowing BTU officials to distribute pro-contract literature freely. BTU promised no change in evaluations (a lie) and spent a lot of energy on arm-twisting of vulnerable Philipino teachers, wined and dined building reps and widely spread dire and erroneous threats of what would happen if we ended up working without a contract. Many voted under erroneous impressions of what their own wage increases would be. And Avalon is right-- there was no discussion (although if anyone, including the Baltimore Sun, wanted to point out the gathering fiscal clouds in Annapolis, they were there) of the coming financial crisis that would only be exacerbated by the $60 million increase in budget costs that this contract represents.