News

National and local union leaders spent time on Nov. 1 in two Baltimore City public schools that are turning an AFT Innovation Fund grant into food for thought—and laying the groundwork for constructive implementation of the Common Core State Standards in the process.

Under a grant announced this summer, the Innovation Fund is supporting teams of upper elementary and middle school teachers at Lakeland and Violetville schools. These educators are working with outside partners to develop deep, interdisciplinary investigations with a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) focus

AFT President Randi Weingarten will visit two Baltimore City public schools on Nov. 1, 2013 that are using an AFT Innovation Fund grant to develop project-based learning focused on the origins of students’ food, healthy food choices, sustainable urban farming and gardening. Joining Weingarten will be AFT Secretary-Treasurer Lorretta Johnson and Baltimore Teachers Union President Marietta English, who is also an AFT vice president.

The AFT Innovation Fund grant was awarded in July to the Baltimore Teachers Union, which in turn selected Lakeland and Violetville elementary/middle schools for the

AFT-Maryland President Marietta English will attend the Civil, Human, and Women’s Rights Conference in Los Angles, California, this week. Sponsored by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the conference is being held October 3rd through October 6th.  The conference focuses on encouraging the Department of Labor and the Congress to create better policies for helping American families, extending the benefits of family and medical leave assistance, and promoting stronger and more effective family and medical leave benefits for women and working families.
 

The Maryland/District of Columbia AFL-CIO is joining the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) in calling on the president and the Congress to end the shutdown of the federal government. The unions are requesting that their members and the public call their congressional representatives at 1-888-775-3148 and tell them to “Stop the Lockout of Federal Employees.” The unions also are asking that people call the White House at 202-456-1111 and tell President Obama to “Stand firm—don’t’ negotiate away federal employees’ pay and benefits.” For more information on the telephone campaign

Baltimore Teachers Union (BTU) president Marietta English has called for a review and revision of the new Code of Conduct for Baltimore City schools. The new code allows students caught with weapons such as knives or guns to remain in school. Under the previous code, students who committed such infractions automatically were suspended or expelled. Rather than imposing such punishments, the new code requires school officials to impose community service requirements, deprive students of privileges, or to impose in-school suspensions. President English said that the teachers’ representatives on

The Baltimore Teachers Union (BTU) will sponsor its annual Quality Educational Standards in Teaching (QuEST) Conference October 18th at Clifton High School, 2801 Saint Lo Drive in Baltimore. This year’s QuEST Conference theme is “Reclaiming the Promise for Our Students and Schools.” Rob Weil, Deputy Director of Educational Issues for the American Federation of Teachers is scheduled as the conference’s keynote speaker. For registration information, contact the Baltimore Teachers Union, 410-358-6600.

Visit baltimoreteachers.org for more information.

Click here to register for QuEST.

Baltimore County Federation of Public Employees (BCFPE) president John Ripley reports that two of the federation’s members, Corporal Elischa M. Bryant and Corporal Gregory D. Miller, both employees in the Baltimore County Department of Corrections, have been promoted to the rank of Sergeant. In announcing their promotions, Deborah J. Richardson, Director of the Baltimore County Department of Corrections, noted  that both officers had committed themselves to the department’s philosophy and “had demonstrated the ability to take on responsibilities of supervising at the next level.”
 

AFT Healthcare-Maryland (Local #5197) and the Maryland Professional Employees Council (MPEC, Local #6197 held their first joint negotiation session with Secretary of State John McDonough and his team last month and presented the unions’ proposals for a new three-year bargaining agreement. The unions’ proposals were based on responses from members to a collective bargaining survey on AFT's Leadernet web site.

A second negotiation session has been scheduled for September 24th. At that time, management will respond to the unions’ proposals. Since the first negotiations session, the two unions have