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.