Anne Arundel County school employees are outraged that the proposed $432.9 million operating budget adopted by the county Board of Education adopted an hour after midnight yesterday doesn't include money for even small cost of living raises.
"They want us to work two more days, more hours and go two years without a salary increase," fumed Dee Zepp, president of the Secretaries and Assistants Association of Anne Arundel County, who said she was amazed that board members don't understand what a small raise would do for morale.
"Anybody who thinks morale doesn't play a part in what you take into a classroom doesn't understand education," she said.
Board members shouldn't worry about how much money they can get from the county, but be "cheerleaders for good programs and quality education" said John Kurpjuweit, president the Teachers Association of Anne Arundel County.
"It's not their job to say we can't do it. They don't set the tax rate," he argued.
The teachers union will go to arbitration over its contract Wednesday.
Even without raises, the board's proposed operating budget is about $10 million higher than county officials say they can afford.
Spokesman Larry Telford said County Executive John G. Gary is planning to give the schools a 4.5 percent increase over this year's $409 million operating budget, or about $422 million. Other county departments will receive increases estimated at 1.5 percent.
Late Wednesday, weary board members suggested submitting a budget they believe reflected the school system's needs rather than continue hours of debate over each item. In the end, they compromised, hoping the executive and County Council would find a way to help them.
Even if Mr. Gary cuts the board's budget, the council still has the power to restore money.
The budget the board passed is only slightly smaller than the $437 million spending plan that Superintendent Carol S. Parham submitted.
It leaves intact Dr. Parham's proposed reorganization, which would eliminate 21 positions from her administration budget, including that of Eleanor Harris, her administrative assistant.
The board restored two programs Dr. Parham cut: $180,000 for an adult basic education program that teachers people to read and write, and $100,000 for a "drown-proofing" program for fifth graders.
The board halved her budget for the controversial Advanced School Automation Project, reducing it to $3.5 million, enough to put computers in 12 high schools and link the networks.
Before debate on the budget began, board members listened to about two hours of protests from teachers, including objections to the board's contract proposal to withdraw the top-of-the-line Blue Cross and Blue Shield program from its health care offerings.
Some protests were aimed at Dr. Parham's planned job cuts, which she says will affect 15 people and save $1.1 million that can be spent on textbooks. With the cuts, and a shift of seven other positions to a different budget category, Dr. Parham also was able to add seven positions to her administrative staff.