Dorothy Rowley, The Examiner
2008-04-02 07:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

BALTIMORE -

About 300 veteran Baltimore County teachers protested Tuesday to demand cost-of-living pay increases that County Executive Jim Smith has denied.

“More work, less pay, no way!” the teachers chanted at a protest in Towson and at gatherings at schools throughout the county.

The teachers said they will continue their protests and a work-to-rule job action — doing only required tasks within their seven-hour workdays — at least until Smith releases his budget April 15.

If the budget includes no COLAs for teachers with more than 25 years of experience, the protest and work-to-rule will continue, said Cheryl Bost, president of the Teachers Association of Baltimore County.

“I depend on the COLAs to help put my two children through college,” said Barbara Tyler, a teacher at Mars Estate Elementary, who has taught for 30 years in county schools.

“We teachers work pretty hard, and we’ve been around a long time. I understand there has to be a top to the salary scale, but they’ve not put any kind of compensation in the budget for veteran teachers.”

Smith has repeatedly said the county could provide the COLA raises only if it raised property taxes, which he wants to avoid.

Under Smith’s proposed budget, county teachers would receive step increase but no COLAs.

After 25 years, teachers stop receiving step increases.

“For the past four years, the county has grossly underestimated revenues and overestimated expenditures, resulting in surpluses in the hundreds of millions of dollars,” Bost said.

But the surpluses have been channeled into county projects instead of COLAs for teachers, she said.

An arbitrator is reviewing the dispute over the COLAs.

A March 20 fact-finding report said Baltimore County has the resources to provide 3 percent COLA increases for veteran teachers.

The fact finder’s report found in late March that the county does have the money for teacher raises. The county has an $81.4 million surplus.

County school officials could not be reached Tuesday evening.

drowley@baltimoreexaminer.com