Maryland leader: Teachers union called for a massive layoff to save a scheduled raise

By Steve Gunn
EAGnews.org

BEL AIR, Maryland ? How much do teachers unions care about students, smaller class sizes and the fate of their younger members?

Check out this story, which was gleaned from a recent DaggerPress.com interview with Harford County Executive David Craig, who is currently running for governor of Maryland.

Craig was asked about a recent budget process, in which he recommended much less funding for the local school district than the school board had requested. The board reacted by cutting 120 jobs, laying off 46 teachers, instituting student fees for extracurricular activities and cancelling a scheduled teacher raise, according to the website.

The local teachers union was upset, but not on behalf of the misplaced employees or the students. They wanted to save their raise, come hell or high water.

?I can tell you this, the union went back and actually asked the board to cut 250 more jobs to give them the pay increase,? Craig said. ?They asked the board to cut as many jobs as needed to keep that money in there for the pay increase. Now, will they reveal that to the teachers that would have lost their jobs? Probably not. But that?s what they did.?

The elimination of another 250 jobs almost certainly would have left more teachers out of work. That would have enlarged class sizes (which unions generally object to), which in turn would have meant less personalized instruction for students.

But hey, the raise was all that mattered.

We don?t know how this situation turned out. But we know how the union wanted it to turn out, and that supports the message that we keep hammering home: Teachers unions don?t care about students or the quality of instruction. They exist to squeeze all the money they possibly can for their members, period.

Anyone who suggests otherwise is na?ve or a liar.

Comments

Tags: #teachers, @eagnews.org, @kyleolson4, @NEAToday, @rweingarten, Budget, EAG, EAGnews, Education Action Group, Harford County Executive David Craig, Maryland State Education Association, teachers union

Posted on: July 10th, 2013 by Trevor

Source: http://eagnews.org/maryland-leader-teachers-union-called-for-a-massive-layoff-to-save-a-scheduled-raise/

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