Teacher Pay

[Anonymous]

I think we all can agree that teachers deserve a higher salary. I think we also can agree that there is a teacher shortage and that some positions are harder to fill than others.

What is the purpose of the teachers union? Why are they not advocating for higher pay? I hear that MCPS teachers cannot strike-why not? Doesn’t that take away the biggest bargaining chip the union has? Why does it seam that the teachers union is not helping to support the teachers?

[Anonymous]

Take a deep dive in the county budget and you’ll quickly notice that the biggest chunks go to schools, police and firefighters combined.

Step back and look at the shifting demographics and notice the trends promoting scarcity: older, whiter, wealthier residents are dying or relocating outside of the county and state while younger, immigrant, poorer residents are increasing (some of whom don’t pay taxes because they deal in cash-based industries).

The MoCo of the 1980s is gone. We aren’t as affluent as we were because our tax base has changed. Nonetheless, Annapolis still thinks we are rolling in cash and we consistently get shortchanged. MoCo has done a noble job of supplementing mcps when the state falls short, but it’s not enough.

So, tell me how to come up with money to increase teacher salaries? I’m totally for it btw.

An appropriation won’t happen. How about incentives where we can draw upon other resources? Why not implement full ride scholarships or loan forgiveness for teachers who commit two decades of service? Why not offer a tax break or stipend? Or a special mortgage program? Heck, why not invest in a mixed use housing development where young teachers have free or heavily subsidized housing?

[Anonymous]

There’s only so much money to go around, and the elementary school and english teachers are scared that STEM and SPED positions will get most of the raises if they separate pay scales by area.

Maryland law prohibits teacher’s unions from organizing a strike. If you don’t like the job, then find a new job, just like any other professional would do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Take a deep dive in the county budget and you’ll quickly notice that the biggest chunks go to schools, police and firefighters combined.

Step back and look at the shifting demographics and notice the trends promoting scarcity: older, whiter, wealthier residents are dying or relocating outside of the county and state while younger, immigrant, poorer residents are increasing (some of whom don’t pay taxes because they deal in cash-based industries).

The MoCo of the 1980s is gone. We aren’t as affluent as we were because our tax base has changed. Nonetheless, Annapolis still thinks we are rolling in cash and we consistently get shortchanged. MoCo has done a noble job of supplementing mcps when the state falls short, but it’s not enough.

So, tell me how to come up with money to increase teacher salaries? I’m totally for it btw.

An appropriation won’t happen. How about incentives where we can draw upon other resources? Why not implement full ride scholarships or loan forgiveness for teachers who commit two decades of service? Why not offer a tax break or stipend? Or a special mortgage program? Heck, why not invest in a mixed use housing development where young teachers have free or heavily subsidized housing?

Great ideas. Why is the union advocating for some of these ideas? They seem very reasonable to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Take a deep dive in the county budget and you’ll quickly notice that the biggest chunks go to schools, police and firefighters combined.

Step back and look at the shifting demographics and notice the trends promoting scarcity: older, whiter, wealthier residents are dying or relocating outside of the county and state while younger, immigrant, poorer residents are increasing (some of whom don’t pay taxes because they deal in cash-based industries).

The MoCo of the 1980s is gone. We aren’t as affluent as we were because our tax base has changed. Nonetheless, Annapolis still thinks we are rolling in cash and we consistently get shortchanged. MoCo has done a noble job of supplementing mcps when the state falls short, but it’s not enough.

So, tell me how to come up with money to increase teacher salaries? I’m totally for it btw.

An appropriation won’t happen. How about incentives where we can draw upon other resources? Why not implement full ride scholarships or loan forgiveness for teachers who commit two decades of service? Why not offer a tax break or stipend? Or a special mortgage program? Heck, why not invest in a mixed use housing development where young teachers have free or heavily subsidized housing?

Great ideas. Why is the union advocating for some of these ideas? They seem very reasonable to me.

Someone should tweet this at Hogan. He has the power to throw state incentives and tax credits at a societal issue that both sides should support.

PS - Hogan hates MoCo and still thinks it’s a bastion of wealth that doesn’t pull its weight. Ask any lawmaker or lobbyist in Annapolis. The only way to get this done is if it’s a statewide initiative. Given the shortage impacts districts across the state, he might be inclined to do it. It would certainly give him something to talk about on CNN. It would help him with credibility for his next venture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Take a deep dive in the county budget and you’ll quickly notice that the biggest chunks go to schools, police and firefighters combined.

Step back and look at the shifting demographics and notice the trends promoting scarcity: older, whiter, wealthier residents are dying or relocating outside of the county and state while younger, immigrant, poorer residents are increasing (some of whom don’t pay taxes because they deal in cash-based industries).

The MoCo of the 1980s is gone. We aren’t as affluent as we were because our tax base has changed. Nonetheless, Annapolis still thinks we are rolling in cash and we consistently get shortchanged. MoCo has done a noble job of supplementing mcps when the state falls short, but it’s not enough.

So, tell me how to come up with money to increase teacher salaries? I’m totally for it btw.

An appropriation won’t happen. How about incentives where we can draw upon other resources? Why not implement full ride scholarships or loan forgiveness for teachers who commit two decades of service? Why not offer a tax break or stipend? Or a special mortgage program? Heck, why not invest in a mixed use housing development where young teachers have free or heavily subsidized housing?

Great ideas. Why is the union advocating for some of these ideas? They seem very reasonable to me.

Look up the federal TEACH grant. It’s not perfect but that’s what it’s intended to do. There are also states that offer similar aid programs for teachers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There’s only so much money to go around, and the elementary school and english teachers are scared that STEM and SPED positions will get most of the raises if they separate pay scales by area.

Maryland law prohibits teacher’s unions from organizing a strike. If you don’t like the job, then find a new job, just like any other professional would do.

News flash people are quitting. Which is why there are jobs to fill.

Classic pit people against each other to sew division.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Take a deep dive in the county budget and you’ll quickly notice that the biggest chunks go to schools, police and firefighters combined.

Step back and look at the shifting demographics and notice the trends promoting scarcity: older, whiter, wealthier residents are dying or relocating outside of the county and state while younger, immigrant, poorer residents are increasing (some of whom don’t pay taxes because they deal in cash-based industries).

The MoCo of the 1980s is gone. We aren’t as affluent as we were because our tax base has changed. Nonetheless, Annapolis still thinks we are rolling in cash and we consistently get shortchanged. MoCo has done a noble job of supplementing mcps when the state falls short, but it’s not enough.

So, tell me how to come up with money to increase teacher salaries? I’m totally for it btw.

An appropriation won’t happen. How about incentives where we can draw upon other resources? Why not implement full ride scholarships or loan forgiveness for teachers who commit two decades of service? Why not offer a tax break or stipend? Or a special mortgage program? Heck, why not invest in a mixed use housing development where young teachers have free or heavily subsidized housing?

Thank you for this post...really informative. Also the ideas listed are great..

[Anonymous]

They skipped striking and went straight to quitting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think we all can agree that teachers deserve a higher salary. I think we also can agree that there is a teacher shortage and that some positions are harder to fill than others.

What is the purpose of the teachers union? Why are they not advocating for higher pay? I hear that MCPS teachers cannot strike-why not? Doesn’t that take away the biggest bargaining chip the union has? Why does it seam that the teachers union is not helping to support the teachers?

MCPS teachers have an association whose powers have been limited by the state much more than employees in a traditional "union" such as SEIU which is , I believe, related to AFL-CIO.t Traditional unions have much more power and many more staff working for employee concerns.

Maryland prohibits teacher striking and other powers that traditional unions used.

MCEA has very limited staff and is mostly composed of volunteers who are also full time teachers. MCPS keeps drawing out and complicating procedures that were pro forma in the past. Many times these volunteers are putting extra hours into the MCEA business meetings as mcps does not communicate, show to meetings, etc while also having to keep up their teaching jobs in today's climate and raise families at home. MCPS can keep this up and hope that attrition gives them the upper hand, they are on the clock and not relying on countless volunteer hours from members with increasingly demanding full time jobs.

There are many great ideas about teacher retention. However, there are limited actions that any organization can take when their role is circumscribed by state regulations and their traditional work (e.g. collective bargaining) is blocked by such actions as the other side failing to show up to the meetings, not responding in a timely manner, and other things that consistently show mcps to not be working in good faith in negotiations.

[Anonymous]

They should allow positions for special ed and ESOL (and other teaching positions where there is a lot of paperwork and testing) to hire secretaries (for lack of a better word). I'm an ESOL teacher and I do very little teaching because all I do is test, test and test some more. Then, I do paperwork. I might get to teach by the end of September if I hustle. I'd love if they would hire someone to do this time consuming work so I can actually teach my own students. Ditto for the special ed teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They skipped striking and went straight to quitting.

No, 2020/2021 was more of a strike, since they eventually came back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think we all can agree that teachers deserve a higher salary. I think we also can agree that there is a teacher shortage and that some positions are harder to fill than others.

What is the purpose of the teachers union? Why are they not advocating for higher pay? I hear that MCPS teachers cannot strike-why not? Doesn’t that take away the biggest bargaining chip the union has? Why does it seam that the teachers union is not helping to support the teachers?

They are advocating for a lot of things, including teacher pay.

Right now, 3 things most members are concerned about are
1) the expiration of Covid leave
2) the expiration of the higher pay for class coverage
3) larger class sizes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There’s only so much money to go around, and the elementary school and english teachers are scared that STEM and SPED positions will get most of the raises if they separate pay scales by area.

Maryland law prohibits teacher’s unions from organizing a strike. If you don’t like the job, then find a new job, just like any other professional would do.

News flash people are quitting. Which is why there are jobs to fill.

Classic pit people against each other to sew division.

Funny how it is sewing division to suggest teachers in the most severe shortage areas should be paid more, but it isn’t to negotiate a contract where 50 year old teachers get twice the pay and better benefits to do the same job as a 24 year old.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There’s only so much money to go around, and the elementary school and english teachers are scared that STEM and SPED positions will get most of the raises if they separate pay scales by area.

Maryland law prohibits teacher’s unions from organizing a strike. If you don’t like the job, then find a new job, just like any other professional would do.

News flash people are quitting. Which is why there are jobs to fill.

Classic pit people against each other to sew division.

Funny how it is sewing division to suggest teachers in the most severe shortage areas should be paid more, but it isn’t to negotiate a contract where 50 year old teachers get twice the pay and better benefits to do the same job as a 24 year old.

You don't value experience?