The following press release was issued today by Harford County Public Schools:
HCPS announces top ten contenders for county teacher of the year; Expert educators vie for prestigious title
The top ten finalists for the 2010 Harford County Teacher of the Year award have been released and are listed below. The judging panel had a difficult and unenviable task again this year with many outstanding teachers nominated for the award. Just to have been deemed worthy by a student, parent, administrator or someone else to be Harford’s Teacher of the Year from among the 2,900 teachers in the system is noteworthy.
Rachel Coutts – Havre de Grace Middle School – Language Arts
Thomas Dennison – Havre de Grace Elementary School – Kindergarten
Brooke Fisher – C. Milton Wright High School – Social Studies
Brian Folus – Bel Air, Joppatowne Elementary School – Instrumental Music
Susan Havran- Dublin, Norrisville Elementary School – Art
Sandra McMichael – Fallston High ...Continue Reading
Legislative Updates on the education bills under consideration in the Maryland General Assembly are coming fast and furious now. A second set of updates was presented to the Harford County Board of Education by the schools’ governmental liaison Kathy Carmello, at a business meeting held Monday, February 22 in Bel Air. This time around, Harford School Board Member John Smilko raised the possibility of intrigue among the sundry list of legislative initiatives for the 2010 session.
Background: After first asserting that legislative changes were not needed for Maryland to win a chunk of the $4 billion federal, Race to the Top money, Governor Martin O’Malley has now requested changes geared toward getting the loot in the proposed Education Reform Act of 2010. The legislation extends the probationary period from 2 to 3 years before new teachers can earn tenure; requires that student outcomes be a ...Continue Reading
Is Harford County Public Schools blocking e-mails from the president of the teachers’ union to Harford teachers?
Acting on a tip from a reader, The Dagger contacted the president of the Harford County Education Association, Randy Cerveny, who confirmed that e-mails he sent to teachers through the schools’ e-mail system were suddenly not being received, nor were the e-mails kicked back to him as undeliverable. Cerveny said Tuesday that he didn’t know the reason, and he had received no explanation from Harford County Public Schools.
So, The Dagger contacted HCPS to find out what was going on and why. We got the following response from spokesperson Teri Kranefeld indicating that, among other things, the Harford County Education Association (HCEA) has now filed a grievance over the issue:
“HCEA has specific language written into their agreement regarding communication. The Board upholds and honors its commitments. I have linked ...Continue Reading
The New Harford Democratic Club has issued an “Action Alert” to those parents, students, and Harford County residents who are upset with the Board of Education’s decision not to air President Barack Obama’s speech to students.
The alert advises those interested to attend a protest planned to be held Tuesday morning, just prior to Obama’s speech, outside the Harford County Public Schools administration building in Bel Air.
Here is the text of the release:
SPECIAL EVENT OF INTEREST TO MEMBERS OF THE THE NEW HARFORD DEMOCRATIC CLUB
Many parents of school-age children in Harford County Public Schools are outraged that the Board of Education will not air President Obama’s speech to students on the importance of education. The speech is slated to be live-streamed on Tuesday, September 8 at 11 a.m. A protest of parents and students will be held, starting at 10:30 a.m., outside the School Administration Bldg. on Hickory Ave. in Bel ...Continue Reading
The Board of Education of Harford County and the Harford County Education Association (HCEA), which represents the approximately 3,000 public school teachers in the county, jointly announce that a tentative contract settlement has been reached between the two organizations. This agreement maintains health benefits at its current level and does not include a cost of living adjustment or step increase for teachers.
After four months of negotiations, a tentative agreement was reached when representatives of the school system and HCEA signed the document on June 29, 2009.
Specifics of the tentative agreement will be shared with members of the Board of Education of Harford County and with the teacher members of HCEA. The agreement becomes official after ratification by both the HCEA and the Board and will become effective July 1, 2009.
“My fellow Board members and I are glad that we were able to reach an agreement with the Harford County Education ...Continue Reading
A confidentiality agreement is supposed to prevent both the Harford County Board of Education and the Harford County Education Association (HCEA) from discussing labor negotiations in public. Those talks are normally conducted behind closed doors and so far, they have yet to result in a teachers’ contract for the 2009 –10 school year. But Board Member John Smilko gave a robust presentation of what seemed to be the board’s position, at the board business meeting Monday night in Bel Air.
Smilko said “every other bargaining unit has settled for no COLA and no step”, referring to wage increases related to the cost of living and length of service. And he urged the HCEA to reconsider its position and settle on a contract with the school board.
Leading up to that conclusion, Smilko delivered what he called a “reality check” to HCEA President Randy Cerveny and the crowd of ...Continue Reading
Proposed legislation affecting public school labor relations has been filed in the Maryland General Assembly. The bill, known as the Fairness in Negotiations Act (SB 673) is co-sponsored by State Senator Barry Glassman.
Senator Glassman said Thursday in an email to The Dagger:
The bill addresses a long-standing problem in the current collective bargaining process that operates between teachers and our local boards. The current system is weighted inequitably in favor of the local boards. If the two sides cannot reach agreement, negotiations are ultimately decided by the State Board of Education which acts presumptively on the employer’s side, the local boards. The current system sidesteps real collective bargaining and thwarts the fairness of the process.
It’s budget season in Harford County, when public hearings are held, pleas for funding are made and grumblings about taxes waft through the air. At one such hearing last Wednesday night, Harford County Public Schools were a hot topic. But don’t you wonder what the Board of Education does with its money? Let’s look at one example.
A few years back, the Board of Education approved a series of high school reforms known as Comprehensive Secondary School Reform (CSSRP). One of the core concepts behind reform was that students would be more engaged in school if they could take more electives, which also meant that students would spend less time in classes covering math, science, English and social studies.
The idea was that something had to be done to improve student achievement; and this was definitely something. Despite warnings from teachers, parents, students, a few brave administrators and a boatload of research, ...Continue Reading
