Baltimore County school board approves budget with staff raises after teachers rally for fair compensation

The Baltimore County Public Schools Board of Education voted to approve the amended budget proposal for fiscal year 2024 with adjustments for employee compensation, virtual learning and athletic trainers.

The vote followed a rally where system teachers continued calling for competitive pay.

Tuesday was the board’s deadline to vote on the budget so Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. could get the proposal by March 1.

BCPS Chief Financial Officer Chris Hartlove said the amended operating budget for the year starting July 1 would be $23 million above last year. He said the county executive seemed amenable to this spending increase.

As part of the amended budget, there would be increases to employee compensation, though numbers would not be solidified until negotiations are finalized, Hartlove said. The raises will be backed by state funding to lessen how much is asked of the county council.

Hartlove said the goal is to increase compensation for all employees, to give eligible employees a cost-of-living adjustment and a salary step increase. He also wants starting salaries for teachers to begin at $59,000 and for American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees to have a $15 minimum wage.

Prior to the announcement, county educators wanting better compensation rallied outside the school board building. The original budget proposal did not include adequate raises, teachers said.

Members of the Teachers Association of Baltimore County, alongside the Education Support Professionals of Baltimore County and AFSCME, have been asking the board to deliver competitive pay since the start of budget season, which began in January.

Baltimore County educators said they wanted more than just a scheduled step increase in the budget. TABCO members also wanted a higher starting salary and a compressed salary scale. Though the school system previously agreed to these measures, they are not included in the proposed budget.

Members of support professionals union and AFSCME implored the board for wage increases. Otherwise, more than one-third of support professionals could go without any raises next year and AFSCME members in entry-level jobs could continue making less than $15 hourly.

“We’ve had enough,” TABCO President Cindy Sexton said at the rally. “We keep doing everything that comes up ... and we’re tired of not getting the respect we deserve.”

BCPS special educator Diethra King said it’s hard to make ends meet with current pay. She makes about $85,000, but about $35,000 goes to taxes. She said her family just moved into a house they bought last year. Even though her husband works two jobs, King said her family lives paycheck to paycheck.

When asked at the rally if they knew someone at their school who worked at least two jobs, most educators raised their hands

BCPS paraeducator Veronica Wheeler said she makes $23.40 per hour. This year, she only got about a $3 hourly raise, though she would have preferred $5 to $7. She said her family lives with her parents and cannot afford to move into their own space.

Wheeler said she wears many hats in her job, be it substituting, staying late, acting as a psychologist or handling fights.

“And you do all this and can’t even afford to live,” Wheeler said.

Fellow Maryland county school systems offer better compensation packages to their teachers, Sexton said, such as 3%, 4% or 5% cost-of-living adjustments on top of step raises.

Sexton said nothing in Superintendent Darryl Williams’ $2.6 billion proposed budget is more important than the system’s workers. She noted about 200 teachers left the school system last year, and more will leave if educators are not compensated fairly. And she fears the compensation goals listed by Hartlove might not be enough.

The amended budget proposal also cuts 162 vacant teacher positions, which could save the school system $24.8 million.

Although the board voted to approve an amended budget with cost-of-living adjustments for teachers, that doesn’t guarantee such raises will be distributed for the next fiscal year. Last year, the school system and county council butted heads over a supplemental budget appropriation to give raises to teachers.

Olszewski has previously released statements noting the current BCPS budget proposal is too large of an ask.

“Find the money to keep us,” Sexton said.

The approved budget also included amendments for the virtual learning program, originally set to end next fiscal year, as it was funded with one-time coronavirus pandemic emergency funds. It was added to the budget proposal with a price tag of $6.6 million, roughly $10 million less than its current cost.

Williams’ staff presented the option of hiring 24 masters-level athletic trainers, who are medical professionals, and a supervisor for about $3.2 million. Board member Rod McMillion motioned to approve this option, and it passed with mixed responses from the board.

Board member Julie Henn motioned to amend the budget to restore 10 central office resource teachers for about $1 million so as not to cut as many positions as the original budget, but the motion failed.