Continuing with AFT efforts to promote democracy and add more voices to the political process locally and nationally, AFT-Maryland Political Coordinator Todd Reynolds led a voter registration drive Sunday August 16th at Macedonia Baptist Church in Baltimore, Md. The drive was but a small example of the "Reclaim Baltimore" initiative introduced at the 2015 AFT-Maryland Convention.

The initiative focused on revitalizing the city in the wake of the unrest after the Freddie Gray death. One aspect was to increase citizen participation in the political process. With a Presidential, Senate, Mayoral &

Barry Glassman, Harford County Executive, signed union contracts with Maryland Classified Employees Association (MCEA) and AFSCME. MCEA Union officials present for the signing were chapter president William Sullivan, VP Amanda Weyant, secretary Michael Hiob, treasurer Ray Crosby, and Michael Keeney, MCEA staff representative.

The contracts allow for qualified county employees to receive a $1,000 merit raise in 2016. The County Executive said that, “these increases are fully funded through cost-savings identified by my administration in our budget for the fiscal year 2016.”  The new budget will

Teachers, paraprofessionals, and AFT members and personnel from all over the nation came to Washington D.C. to take part in AFT TEACH 2015: Together Educating America’s Children. The three-day conference featured a number of panels, workshops, plenary sessions, and town halls all organized around the idea of improving the quality of public education for the nation's young people.

AFT-Maryland played a huge role in the events with strong representation from various members and officers. Baltimore Teachers Union and AFT-Maryland President Marietta English was in attendance and participated in

The leaders of five major unions issued a statement June 30 expressing their disappointment with the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to hear a case, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, that challenges fees non-union members pay.

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During the month of July, 2015, Baltimore City Public  Schools will be hosting a series of community conversations around Baltimore City to discuss how school police can work with schools, students, and the community to keep students safe and in school during the day.

In the 2015 Maryland Legislative Session, a bill was introduced to allow Police to carry guns in schools. The legislation didn't make it out of committee, but we anticipate that similar legislation will be introduced again next session and that this will be a major topic of discussion at these Community Conversations this month.

Th

Today, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake stood in front of Carver Vocational Technical High School in West Baltimore to announce $4.2 million for programs that will benefit youth and communities across Baltimore City. That money serves a variety of purposes  including funding enrichment activities both during school and out of school hours, and additional funding for Baltimore's award-winning Community Schools strategy.

The Baltimore Education Coalition (BEC) and the Maryland Out of School Time Network (MOST) were active partners with AFT-Maryland in lobbying city officials for the funds. Mayor