The president of the Montgomery County Board of Education says members might cut already negotiated employee pay raises regardless of whether they reach an agreement with school system employee unions.
Michael Durso sent a memo to County Council President Nancy Floreen and Education Committee Chairman Craig Rice on Friday explaining the school system and three employee unions haven’t yet agreed on renegotiated pay increases that would divert about $37 million in funding for salaries next school year to reducing class sizes and programs to close the achievement gap.
Durso wrote that even if the unions don’t agree with the move, which would cut teacher pay raises averaging about 8 percent to an average of about 4 percent, “the Board recognizes that it has a right under Maryland law to implement a final decision about budgetary funding, even absent a union agreement, and we will take that step if necessary.”
Durso said Friday he’s “still hoping that both the board and our unions can come to a full agreement,” but the sides disagree on the elimination of a second step increase to make up for a step increase that was deferred from fiscal year 2012. He said the school system and unions “are pretty much in sync” on reducing a scheduled 2 percent cost of living increase to 1 percent.
The 8 percent average increase was agreed upon two years ago for the final year of a three-year contract.
“I don’t think we’ve given up, but there’s still this issue of the make-up step that is kind of remaining a stumbling block,” Durso said. “Across the county, there have been some really valid concerns about class size and I don’t see how class size and the achievement gap issue are separate from each other. I don’t think you can do one without the other. Quite honestly, I think our employees see that also, but these are very personal decisions. We’re talking about family incomes and people’s financial health, so it’s pretty complicated.”
The renegotiations of salary increases started April 26, when the council voted to reject the full amount of pay increases scheduled for employees of Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), Montgomery College, the county government and police department, and Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service.
With the county’s first property tax increase since 2009 likely to be part of the fiscal year 2017 budget, council members are focusing an unusual amount of attention on the already negotiated salary increases.
In March, almost immediately after County Executive Ike Leggett announced his $5.27 billion proposed budget would include a property tax increase, council members questioned whether enough of the proposed $2.4 billion for schools was dedicated to reducing class sizes and solving the achievement gap between white and Asian students and black and Hispanic students. The council is set to take a final vote on the budget May 26.
On Monday, the council is expected to discuss whether to accept the changes resulting from renegotiations between the county government and its three employee unions—MCGEO, the police union and firefighters union. While the council approves how much money goes to the school system, the Board of Education decides how that money is spent.
Floreen told The Washington Post earlier this week she doesn’t think the renegotiated county government salary increase schedules go far enough. The renegotiated schedule doesn’t cut any of the salary increases, as suggested by the council, and instead moves the increases back to late June 2017.
Council staff said that move would result in just $115,485 to be paid in salary increases for fiscal year 2017, but result in $6.8 million in salary increases in fiscal year 2018.
Montgomery College President DeRionne Pollard told Floreen in a letter Thursday that unions representing the college’s employees agreed to reduce their planned salary increases to save $4.5 million in fiscal year 2017. She said she hopes the council will use the money to fund the college’s technology requests and keep a new math and science building planned for the Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus on track.
