MCEA President Doug Prouty responds to The Washington Post

MCEA President Doug Prouty submitted the following response to The Washington Post regarding their recent editorial about the proposed contract settlement between MCEA and the BOE:

The Post’s editorial “Teachers over Students” (5/25/12) displays the Post Editorial Board’s antiquated thinking about two important aspects of the Montgomery County Public Schools, its budget, and the work of the system and its employees:  the first erroneous thought is that unions and management cannot work together productively to increase student achievement and the second is that short term budget gimmicks are preferable to realistic long term planning.

The fact is that the three employee unions and the school system work together on all important matters.  The collaboration between the employees and the system is so well regarded by the US Department of Education that we were invited to present to over 300 other systems at a DoEd conference on collaboration for the second year in a row.  The Post itself ran a front page story on this collaboration and the positive effect it has for our students on March 10, 2012.  But the editorial board seems to know better- so much so that they say with absolute certainty how we conduct our bargaining, despite the fact that they have no firsthand knowledge of the bargaining process, or the MCPS budget process.  They don’t even bother to ask.  Their fallback assumption is that the union is bad- especially if it is a teachers’ union.  This is true even when the Montgomery County Education Association is the partner with MCPS in a nationally recognized Peer Assistance and Review program, which has been a successful partnership focusing on the quality of instruction for over 12 years.  How do we know this?  Numerous systems from around the country visit to learn about this program, which provides both specific and timely feedback on practice and structured support to address areas of concern.  The Harvard School of Education website about PAR programs features MCPS and MCEA.  There was also the front page story published by the Post on June 9, 2009.  The story focused on a tenured teacher who improved her craft through hard work and the assistance of the PAR program.

In addition, the editorial board falls all over itself to credit teachers as being hard working, dedicated, and deserving of a raise- but not too much of one, apparently.  The Post editorial board prefers budget gimmicks such as bonuses and furloughs- which just kick the can down the road for a year.  Either the employees of MCPS and the county government deserve a raise, or they don’t.  If they do, then pretending a onetime bonus is a solution while ignoring the 4.7% increase in the county government budget, as opposed to the 2.2% increase for MCPS, reveals an anti-union and anti-employee bias.  The fact is that increasing the budget, no matter how the money is spent, inherently sets up the following year for either sustaining that spending level or making cuts.  MCPS has, in partnership with its unions, made a commitment to its employees and its students.  Education is a people business and the Superintendent and Board of Education recognized that now is the time to provide stability and a sign of a reciprocal commitment to the people who educate our students, who oversee high achieving schools, who drive the students to school each day, fix their lunches, and keep the schools clean.  If increasing the budget is not affordable, as the editorial board contests, then we should expect to see future editorials blasting the increase in the county budget, in the budget in Fairfax County (an 8% increase for the school system), and the budget in Prince George’s county (a 3.1% increase in the school system budget).  If increased spending is the issue, why single out MCPS?  If paying teachers a decent wage is the issue, we should expect to see an editorial about the starting salaries in the District of Columbia Public schools, which are higher than those in MCPS.

At the end of the day, it is the work the members of the three associations and MCPS have done together for more than a decade that has made the school system one of the best in the country.  The editorial board can go on writing negative editorials about the teachers’ union in Montgomery County- the most recent one makes half a dozen in the past three years- but we will continue to do what is right for the educators, schools, and students in MCPS.

Doug Prouty, Rockville

President, MCEA

Dr. Starr responds to the Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-wisdom-of-rewarding-montgomerys-school-employees/2012/05/27/gJQACEH1uU_print.html

The wisdom of rewarding Montgomery’s school employees

Published: May 27

The Post made the wrongheaded claim that by giving our employees well-deserved compensation increases, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) is choosing “teachers over students” [editorial, May 25]. What The Post doesn’t understand is that an investment in our employees is an investment in our students.

Smaller class sizes, technology and new resources are important, but anyone who has worked in or around public education knows that it’s the people who make a difference. A well-trained, motivated teacher makes the biggest impact on the quality of education a student receives. An outstanding building leader can turn around a struggling school and make a good school great. An engaged and committed support staff bolsters instruction and makes sure that nothing distracts us from our mission.

Our parents understand the direct connection between the quality of our people and the quality of our school system. During public hearings on the budget, our parents repeatedly asked county leaders to recognize our employees by giving them their first pay increase in two or three years.

In its editorial, The Post ignored some important facts about MCPS.

The piece focused on the size of the salary increase that most of our teachers will receive over two years, yet the average increase for all district employees in that time will be below 5 percent. The Post didn’t mention that a large number of our employees work in supporting services. The hours of thousands of these hardworking people have been cut the past few years, and they earn significantly less than the county’s median income. Consider that our bus operators earn about $30,000 a year, on average. Even with their raises — which for many will be no more than 2 percent — they are far from catching up.

The Post clearly considers the relationship between MCPS, the Board of Education and its employee associations something that hurts our taxpayers and our schools. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Our Professional Growth System, administered by our associations, is held up as a national model for improving performance and eliminating mediocrity. It is our employees that gave up their cost-of-living and step increases in recent years, saving taxpayers more than $140 million. And it is our employees, with our parents, who have helped make difficult budgetary decisions over the past several years. And even as they have had to do more with less, it is our employees — many of them Montgomery County residents and taxpayers — who have still helped our students achieve unprecedented results.

In fact, that achievement was highlighted in The Post itself this month as MCPS placed five schools in the top 100 of the newspaper’s High School Challenge.

You can’t get these types of returns without making investments.

Ultimately, the investment in our employees is about sustaining the future of the county. If you ask people why they moved to Montgomery County, most will tell you it’s because of the high-quality schools. To sustain this national reputation, we must retain the very people who make our schools the signature element of Montgomery County: our teachers, staff and administrators.

Joshua P. Starr, Rockville

The writer is superintendent of the Montgomery County Public Schools.

SPECIAL SESSION UPDATE – DAY #3 (SINE DIE ALL OVER AGAIN)

SPECIAL SESSION UPDATE – DAY #3 (SINE DIE ALL OVER AGAIN)

This time when the General Assembly adjourned, the work to fully fund our schools, and protect critical services and investments had been done.  The third and final day of a scripted and predictable special session concluded with approval from the House of Delegates on the three bills that constituted the budget agreement to avoid the Doomsday Budget cuts.

After another round of debate, the House took final action on the budget bills (review of all three bills below). The budget reconciliation bill passed 86-51* (1 Republican voted YES, and 10 Democrats voted NO.  Four legislators are absent).
The revenue bill passed 77-60* (All Republicans who were present opposed this and were joined by 18 Democrats).
The bond bill passed with some Republican votes, 99-37*.

*We will share official roll call votes in a future update

The bills were identical to legislation approved a day earlier in the Senate, so no further action was required from the upper chamber before the legislation was deemed approved by the General Assembly and moved to the governor.  The Senate convened for a pro-forma session to simply adjourn from the special session.

Upon Sine Die, MSEA issued the following statement:

Statement from MSEA President Clara Floyd on a Successful Special Session
Keeping our schools and state on the path of success requires making hard choices and putting our children first. Thank you to Governor O'Malley and the legislators who stood up, stopped the doomsday budget, and protected Maryland's great schools, vital services, and excellent quality of life.

REVIEW OF BUDGET-RELATED BILLS

Below is a refresher of the three budget-related bills and a summary of the provisions of the total budget package. 

SB 1301/HB 1801:             Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act of 2012

This is the reconciliation bill that implements fund transfers, the pension sharing arrangement that phases in a shift of employer normal costs over four years, and allows for the full funding of the Geographic Cost of Education Index, which includes $128 million in state aid for education. 

SB 1302/HB 1802:             State and Local Revenue and Financing Act of 2012

The revenue bill includes a tax increase that is targeted to individuals with more than $100K per year and families (joint tax filers) with more than $150K per year in net taxable Maryland income.  The higher tax rates apply only to income in excess of the thresholds.  The Department of Legislative Services reports this impacts 14% of Maryland taxpayers.

o   100k/150k           from 4.75% to 5.00%

o   125k/175k           from 4.75% to 5.25%

o   150k/225k           from 5.00% to 5.50%

o   250k/300k           from 5.00% to 5.75%

o   500k+                    from 5.50% to 5.75%

Revenue package also changes personal exemptions for federal adjusted gross income brackets as follows:

o   100k/150k           Current exemption allowance of $2,400 to $1,600

o   125k/175k           Current of $1,800 to $800

o   150k+/200k+      Personal exemptions eliminated

               
SB 1303/HB 1803:             Creation of a State Debt – Qualified Zone Academy Bonds

This bond bill adds $15 million for school construction bonds.  While it was part of the budget bill that passed the General Assembly, an Attorney General’s ruling advised to pass a clean bill during the special session so there would not be any issues with the delay of implementation of the entire budget.  

Special Session Update - Day 2

SPECIAL SESSION UPDATE – DAY #2

After morning floor debate, the Senate took final action on the three budget-related bills (review of all three bills below).

· The budget reconciliation bill passed 33-13 (The 12 Republican senators were joined by Senator Brian Frosh in opposition.)

· The revenue bill passed 27-19 (All Republicans plus Sens. John Astle, Jim Brochin, Roy Dyson, Jim Mathias, Anthony Muse, Norman Stone and Bobby Zirkin opposed. Sen. Kathy Klausmeier was absent today.)

· The bond bill passed without opposition (46-0).

Upon passage, the bills moved to the House of Delegates. The House Appropriations and Ways & Means committees moved the bills to the full House for second reader debate.

The House debate followed a similar script to the Senate debate, in terms of amendments offered and rejected. But there was an attempt by some Democrats who had supported the revenue deal in March, but now wanted to introduce a new approach --- scrap the income tax plan in SB 1302 and replace it with a penny increase in the sales tax. This effort was soundly defeated on a voice vote and the revenue bill remained unchanged and on track.

It remains to be seen, however, if the fracture in taxing approaches puts in jeopardy the ability to pass the revenue bill on third reader tomorrow. The bill in March earned 81 House votes, and needs 71 in order to pass third reader tomorrow.

By the time the House adjourned tonight, they had rejected all 16 amendments offered during the second reader debate and provided preliminary approval of the budget plan --- still in the form as approved in the Senate.

LOOKING AHEAD TO DAY #3

The House is planning to return to session at 10 am on Wednesday, and will take final votes on all three bills. Another round of amendments are expected before the final vote will be taken, so it remains to be seen if any change is made that would require the Senate to take further action. The Senate has preliminary plans to return Wednesday afternoon, if for nothing else, then to adjourn the special session.

We continue to advocate for YES votes on all three pieces of legislation, as part of a budget deal that protects school funding and moves Maryland forward. You can share an email with your legislators, or call their offices through the MSEA Legislative Hotline at 866-268-MSEA.

REVIEW OF BUDGET-RELATED BILLS

Below is a refresher of the three budget-related bills and a summary of the provisions of the total budget package.

· SB 1301/HB 1801: Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act of 2012

This is the reconciliation bill that implements fund transfers, the pension sharing arrangement that phases in a shift of employer normal costs over four years, and allows for the full funding of the Geographic Cost of Education Index, which includes $128 million in state aid for education.

· SB 1302/HB 1802: State and Local Revenue and Financing Act of 2012

The revenue bill includes a tax increase that is targeted to individuals with more than $100K per year and families (joint tax filers) with more than $150K per year in net taxable Maryland income. The higher tax rates apply only to income in excess of the thresholds. The Department of Legislative Services reports this impacts 14% of Maryland taxpayers.

o 100k/150k from 4.75% to 5.00%

o 125k/175k from 4.75% to 5.25%

o 150k/225k from 5.00% to 5.50%

o 250k/300k from 5.00% to 5.75%

o 500k+ from 5.50% to 5.75%

Revenue package also changes personal exemptions for federal adjusted gross income brackets as follows:

o 100k/150k Current exemption allowance of $2,400 to $1,600

o 125k/175k Current of $1,800 to $800

o 150k+/200k+ Personal exemptions eliminated

· SB 1303/HB 1803: Creation of a State Debt – Qualified Zone Academy Bonds

This bond bill adds $15 million for school construction bonds. While it was part of the budget bill that passed the General Assembly, an Attorney General’s ruling advised to pass a clean bill during the special session so there would not be any issues with the delay of implementation of the entire budget.