Reply to Teacher Pay

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=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?[/quote]

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.

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If it's limited staff that are volunteering, why am I paying so much in dues? Where is that money going and to whom? Why was there recently a big hike on the grounds of creating new positions? Is it going to political action, to produce the same Apple Ballot that got us a BOE full of non-responsive clods that both teachers and parents can't stand? My position doesn't even have a rep and our request for one was denied for reasons that were so stupid it made me think leadership is either willfully ignorant or trying to hoard power. MCEA is worthless for anyone who isn't a gen ed classroom teacher. I could be marginalized and ignored for free. Having to pay for the privilege has become increasingly galling. A union that can't strike already isn't worth much.

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