MOE bill emerging in House

After months of work - and behind the scenes discussions - a workgroup in the Maryland House of Delegates has just released a bill designed to fix what the State Board of Education described as the "broken" Maintenance of Effort law. The bill is designed to prevent local counties from unilaterally rebasing their per-pupil spending without seeking a waiver from the State Board of Education.

The text of House Bill 1412 can be found at: http://mlis.state.md.us/2012rs/billfile/HB1412.htm
Click on the link at the bottom of page that says "First Reading".

While MSEA has a few remaining concerns about some provisions in the bill, it is seen as going a long way towards fixing the problem. Not only does the bill require that local counties seek waivers, it also allows local counties to exceed property tax caps in order to meet their Maintenance of Effort school funding obligations.

An article in Southern Maryland Online today describes the bill, as does this Baltimore Sun story. 

Stop The Shift - news round-up

There has been a lot of media attention focusing on the Governor's proposal to shift a portion of the cost of teacher pensions on to the counties. As we've noted before, this would be disastrous to the MCPS budget and the county budget as well.

Here are recently published letters to the editor of The Gazette:

The first is from Doug Prouty president of the Montgomery County Education Association and Gino Renne, president of UFCW Local 1994, MCGEO  Association.

The second is from Roger Berliner president of the Montgomery County Council and Andrea Harrison, chairwoman of the Prince George’s County Council.

In Frederick County, FCTA president Gary Brennan and Frederick County's Commissioners held a joint press conference to protest the pension shift scheme.

You can also watch MCEA Executive Director Tom Israel speak before the County Council about the need to prevent this shift:

Gates makes a funny (but probably didn't mean to)

Last year, the Los Angeles school district released the ratings of their teachers based on standardized test scores. Last week, the New York City school district did the same and the results were published by the New York Times.

Interestingly, the same day that this story graced the front page of the Times, a letter to the editor penned by Bill Gates was published in the paper as well. The topic? The importance of not shaming teachers as a method of trying to improve their work. He also says naming names and ranking teachers is not a good thing.

Ironic, no?

Valerie Strauss weighed in on this topic with a well written piece about why this does not work. She even points out:

"According to the New York Times, even one of the economists at the University of Wisconsin who designed the city’s ranking system, Douglas N. Harris, said that releasing the data right now “strikes me as at best unwise, at worst absurd.”

Many questions linger about the efficacy of Value Added Measurements as something to be highly weighted or even included in a teacher evaluation. Too much of what a student learns in a class is not completely reflected in a standardized test score, even if the student aces the test.

Even with states seeking waivers to get out from under NCLB penalties, they will just be swapping one set of standardized tests for another. So there will be more teaching to the test as educators work, not to improve learning, but to keep their name from being at the bottom of a list. Or maybe they won't want to teach at all...

Will Our Legislators Represent Montgomery County’s Interests?

This letter, from the presidents of the six public employee unions in Montgomery County, calls upon the county's state delegation to oppose the shifting of pension costs on to the county's as the long term effects would be devastating.

Will Our Legislators Represent Montgomery County’s Interests?

The General Assembly is currently debating a proposal from Governor O’Malley to shift hundreds of millions in pension costs from the state to the county governments.  This proposed shift is not about improving the sustainability of the state pension plan.  It is simply an effort to shift the state’s budget problems onto the counties.

It is the state government that controls the pension plan and its financial health, not counties. It is the state legislature that determines pension benefits. It is the state legislature that has knowingly underfunded the pension plan for more than 15 years. The legislatively sanctioned “corridor funding” scheme has intentionally set aside less money into the pension plan each year than recommended by the plan’s auditors. It is the state legislature that improved benefits in 2006 – just before an election – but failed to provide a means to pay for the increased cost.

It is unconscionable for the legislature to now expect local governments to pay the cost of these past failures by the state. The unfunded accrued liability is a consequence of decisions made by the state government, and should not be shifted onto local governments.

In Montgomery County alone, the new county cost next year would be more than $47 million.  The following year it would hit $61 million, and in three years - more than $71 million.  That would put pressure on county’s taxpayers and on the public services our citizens deserve and depend on.

The state must resist the temptation to balance its budget on the backs of our counties.  Our Senators and Delegates are elected to represent the interests of our districts. It is not in the interests of Montgomery County taxpayers for the state to abandon its historic commitment to help fund education by paying the costs of pensions for employees of school systems, community colleges and local libraries.

We urge Montgomery County’s local Senators and Delegates to stand firm in opposition to the proposed pension cost shift.

Sincerely,

Marc Zifcak                                                        Debra Mugge

President                                                               President 

Fraternal Order of Police                                   Montgomery County Association

Montgomery County Lodge 35                           of Administrators and Principals (MCAAP)

Gino Renne                                                        Doug Prouty

President                                                              President

UFCW Local 1994,MCGEO                              Montgomery County Education Association

John Sparks                                                       Merle Cuttitta

President                                                              President

Montgomery County Career                              SEIU Local 500

Fire Fighters Association,

IAFF Local 1664

Do your part to protect school funding

Why is it so important to prevent a shift of the cost of teacher pensions on to the counties? Why must the broken Maintenance of Effort law be fixed? Watch this video of our members and see why we must work to make this happen. 

What can you do right now? 

1. Attend the Educator Town Hall on Monday, February 27 in Annapolis.
RSVP at https://marylandeducators.wufoo.com/forms/register-for-the-educator-town-hall/

2. Participate in the Statewide Day of Action on Tuesday, February 28. Simply call 866-268-MSEA on Tuesday the 28th. You will hear an automated message and then be connected to the legislative switchboard. Our goal is to get 1,000 calls in to the General Assembly on Tuesday. The number is live now and you can call anytime.

3. Send emails through the Capwiz system. The email message is updated as events demand. The latest information will be made available at the Do Your Part page on the MSEA website at www.marylandeducators.org/doyourpart.

Equal education for all

Last night, MCEA member George Vlasits testified before the BOE on behalf of the Montgomery County Education Fund to request that the BOE  ask the State Board of Education to delay approval of a new regulations regarding "Gifted and Talented" education.

Testimony of George Vlasits, Executive Director, Montgomery County Education Fund

Montgomery County Board of Education Meeting, 2/14/12

Members of the Board,

Thank you for this opportunity to address an issue of vital interest to our school system and its students. Two weeks from today the Md. State Board of Education is set to approve a drastic extension of the COMAR regulations concerning gifted and talented education. We, at MCEF, are very concerned that these regulations have been crafted without adequate input from those who will be impacted.

I am here today to ask the Board to take immediate action and urge the State BOE to delay approval, to allow time for thorough review and analysis, particularly considering the potential consequences the changes will have on the education of minority, low income and ELL students.

Our concerns are as follows:

1. These regulations require “different” programs in Grades PreK-12 which will have a negative effect on MCPS’ long standing commitment to providing enriched and innovative instruction for all students, rather than tracking students based on early identification of “academic promise”.
2. They mandate an identification process that begins in PreK (ages 3 & 4), even though there is no sound, research based, evidence for such early identification. In addition, moving the process to an earlier age will exacerbate the gaps in the identification process which have been well documented in the MCPS SIPPI report.
3. The regulations are an unfunded mandate which is particularly troubling in this period of budget restraint. They will undoubtedly have the consequence of shifting resources away from the education of the general population of students and thus result in aggravating the achievement gaps.

Time is of the essence. Once enacted, these regulations may well result in the dismantling of MCPS’ efforts to provide a world class education for ALL STUDENTS. Thank you.

Attachments

Proposed COMAR regulations: Chapter 13A.04.07 Gifted and Talented Education

MCEF Petition to the Maryland State Board of Education

For further information please contact

            gvlasits@gmail.com

To find out more about MCEF, visit our website

            www.mcef.org

Great Schools=Great Neighborhoods

You’ve seen our signs all over the county. Great Schools = Great Neighborhoods. Read about the importance of protecting school funding here and then you can contact your County Council member and your state legislators to tell them to keep our schools as a top priority and protect school funding.

Statewide Teacher Town Hall 2/27

In partnership with the Marc Steiner Show, MSEA is helping to organize a Teacher Town Hall which will be broadcast live on WEAA 88.9, Delmarva Public Radio, and other outlets. The event will be held at the Governor Calvert House in Annapolis from 5-7 PM on Monday, February 27 and will be moderated by Marc Steiner.

The Town Hall will feature a discussion between educators and a panel of policymakers and elected officials about our schools and priority education issues. It is very important that we fill the room with educators ready to participate and share their stories and viewpoints.

The event should provide for a robust, interesting dialogue and a prime two-hour window when we can communicate our message to legislators and thousands upon thousands of listeners. Please come to the event, and please encourage activists in your school to attend as well. This is a great opportunity, and it’s up to us to make the most of it. Please register to attend the event here: https://marylandeducators.wufoo.com/forms/register-for-the-teacher-town-hall/

Light refreshments and snacks will be served.

Fixing MOE and stopping pension cost "sharing"

This week has seen our fight getting a lot of attention in the media. We know that the broken Maintenance of Effort law must be fixed to ensure proper local funding of our schools and that the state "sharing" the costs of pensions with the counties will strain already thin budgets.

If you missed  MSEA's Sean Johnson on the Marc Steiner show, you can listen here to hear why MOE must be fixed and shifting teacher pension costs is bad policy.http://www.steinershow.org/radio/the-marc-steiner-show/february-2-2012-hour-1

The Maryland Reporter also has a story: http://marylandreporter.com/2012/02/03/education-groups-want-to-strengthen-requirement-for-maintaining-school-funding/

The Baltimore Sun reported on the release of a multi-stakeholder report outlining a comprehensive fix for MOE. You can read the report here.

Continue reaching out to elected officials. Take a few moments to contact the Governor and your legislators and tell them to fix the broken MOE law and to not "share" the cost of pensions with the counties: http://capwiz.com/nea/md/issues/alert/?alertid=60813666 

You can also:

• Text “MSEA” to 66937 to get legislative alerts and actions throughout session
• Call MSEA’s legislative hotline and connect to the General Assembly switchboard.  The hotline is 866-268-MSEA (6732).  Use it, share it, and use it again.  The message will update as circumstances and targets dictate during the session.
• Participate in the February 27 Teacher Town Hall in Annapolis. The Town Hall will be an opportunity for educators from across the state to discuss protecting school funding and other critical issues with elected officials and policymakers. RSVP to participate in the Town Hall, and please share the registration link with your fellow activists.

The attacks continue and so must the fight

We all saw what happened in Wisconsin when Governor Walker attacked collective bargaining rights. While his law passed, one million signatures were collected to recall him and he will face a stiff challenge later this year. Ohio's Governor passed his own anti-collective bargaining law and the voters repealed it in a referendum last November.
The attacks continue.
In Michigan this week, four bills attacking organized labor (including teacher unions) were introduced in their state House one of which is an attempt to stop paycheck dues deductions, which even the state's association of school board's opposed.
Indiana recently passed a series of laws limiting collective bargaining and attacks public employees and their benefits.
Arizona may be taking this to a whole new level. A series of bills was recently introduced in their legislature that attacks collective bargaining rights for all public employees, not just teachers. Beyond banning the right for unions to collectively bargain, it would make it illegal for payroll dues deduction to take place. This follows up the the pay raise Arizona's governor offered state workers in return for giving up their due process rights.
Don't forget our union brothers and sisters who are in these immense struggles to protect their rights to organize and bargain.