Legislative | AFT-Maryland

Issues 2016: Due Process Protection, School for the Deaf

Due Process Protections School for the Deaf Teachers
Senate Bill 21 / House Bill 597 - SUPPORT

The Maryland School for the Deaf (MSD) is a diverse, bilingual community that works in partnership with families to provide an equitable and exemplary education in a nurturing environment. The school strives to ensure that its students achieve personal excellence and become responsible lifelong learners.

Issues 2016: Education Assessments

Education Assessments
Senate Bill 407/House Bill 141, Senate Bill 794/House Bill 657
House Bill 633, Senate Bill 787/House Bill 1427:

SUPPORT

With the Federal government’s passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), state and local governments have been given more leeway to decide how they want to look at student achievement, as well as assess the effectiveness of schools and teachers.

Some very good ways to start undoing the harm of the test-and-punish model from the years of No Child Left Behind are with bills that either cap or even roll back the large amount of standardized tests

Issues 2016: The State Budget

Education Funding and Maintaining Quality State Services: Prioritizing high quality public education and public services for all citizens and children of the city and the state.

AFT-Maryland holds as its highest priority a commitment from the state to provide enough funding to assure high quality public education and public services to all its citizens and children. To underfund any of these services not only deprives every child and citizen of the state this promise, it also would do more to widen the gap between the wealthier and those less fortunate due to circumstances beyond their control.

Hogan budget cuts $35.5 million from Baltimore City Schools

When Larry Hogan announced the details for his first budget as Maryland governor last week, the state’s teachers and parents were shocked to learn that among his biggest cuts were to Education. Baltimore City Public Schools in particular were singled out for the biggest hit, losing $35.5 million, or nearly 4% of the aid they normally rely on from the state.

While City Schools CEO Gregory Thornton has not yet announced how the schools system will handle this cut, union officials are worried that the governor’s budget will result in job losses for teachers and educational support staff

Lobby Night in Annapolis: Feb. 9, 2015

[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"26622","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image media-image-right","style":"width: 25%; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; margin: 2px; float: right;","typeof":"foaf:Image"}}]]The 2015 Maryland Legislative Session is under way, and AFT-Maryland is launching its legislative agenda early in the session, bringing the issues that support Maryland workers and their families to the attention of the Maryland General Assembly.

Join AFT-Maryland as we visit Maryland's elected leaders and make the case for workplace safety, equitable education funding, protecting due process rights for teachers, and legislation for corporations to pay their fair share of taxes.

Hogan Inauguration Today, Budget Concerns Tomorrow

[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"26620","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image media-image-right","height":"358","style":"width: 33%; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; margin: 2px; float: right;","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"477"}}]]Larry Hogan will shed the “Governor-Elect” title later today and be sworn in as the 62nd Governor of Maryland. While his inauguration speech is expected to address a general direction and plans for the next four years in office—particularly in regard to private-sector growth and across-the-board tax cuts—many are looking with greater anticipation and anxiety as Hogan announces his budget plans this coming Friday. In specific, public sector and education workers are concerned with how Hogan will make up a $760 million budget deficit.

Legislative Session Begins January 14th

[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"26536","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image media-image-right","style":"width: 30%; float: right;","typeof":"foaf:Image"}}]]Following a tumultuous election season which saw a reshuffling of the makeup of the state legislature and Governor’s mansion, union leaders are anticipating a challenging legislative session—especially for public school teachers and staff, as well as state employees—set to begin today, January 14^th.

While Governor-elect Larry Hogan has been mum on specific legislation he wishes to pass and budget decisions he plans to make, most foresee possible cuts to education in key jurisdictions like Baltimore City, as well as a loosening of the restrictions placed on charter school management, as key legislative battles looming in Annapolis over the next 90 days.

Minimum Wage Bill Stalled

The bill that would increase Maryland’s minimum wage to $10.10 an hour has been stalled in the Senate Finance Committee. Senator Thomas Middleton (D-Charles), chair of that committee says that he will not move on the minimum wage proposal until an agreement to raise the wages of workers who care for the developmentally disabled has been reached. Middleton wants to raise the hourly wage for workers who care for the developmentally disabled to a level that is higher than the proposed minimum wage increase.

Workers who care for the developmentally disabled in community-based programs supported by

Snow Causes Delay in Maryland Legislative Process

The nine-inch snow storm that hit the city of Annapolis Monday, March 17th, delayed the schedule to which legislators are expected to adhere. Monday, March 17th, officially was “Crossover Day,” the last day when bills passed in the House or Senate can be sent to the corresponding subcommittee in the opposite chamber for consideration. Bills that fail to “crossover” are sent to the Rules Committee for review and a decision. Generally, legislation sent to the Rules Committee is considered more difficult to get passed.

The House of Delegates passed almost 100 bills before adjourning at 6:00 p.m

Bills Address Student Testing, Teacher Evaluations

A series of bills before the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee could, if passed, delay the use of the new student achievement test, the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. The bills also could allow local school systems, rather than the state, to decide how much—if at all—the test would count towards teacher evaluation. During the Senate committee hearing on February 19th, state officials were divided on how teachers should be evaluated. Several bills now before the legislature propose waiving the state assessment test and Common Core