The union that represents teachers in Baltimore County is delaying a vote on a contract that would increase salaries by an average of 8 percent. The reason is that the school board, the county executive and the county council are in a food fight over how to pay for it. The money for the teacher pay raises is not in the school system’s budget. County Executive Johnny Olszewski nixed the school board’s request to pay for the first year of the raises by transferring $50 million from the school district reserves.
Olszewski called the move fiscally irresponsible because it doesn’t spell out where the money in future years will come from.
Cindy Sexton, the president of the Teachers Association of Baltimore County, said because of that uncertainty, the union delayed a membership vote on the contract. She said the union is sending an open letter to the school board, the county council, and Olszewski saying it wants answers by the school board’s next board meeting Sept. 13.
“So that is our next line in the sand,” Sexton said. “We’ve waited long enough to hear what’s going to happen.”
Sexton said the union’s governing body on Wednesday gave the proposed contract its near-unanimous approval but delayed sending it to the full membership for a vote.
“We know there are concerns about the funding,” Sexton said. “The county executive has made it clear that he wants a five-year plan from the school system on how this is going to be funded.”
Read more (and listen) at WYPR.
