School officials will be closely watching when Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski presents his proposed budget for the coming year to the County Council on Thursday.
The annual debate over school spending brings to the fore the at times uneasy relationship between the county and the Baltimore County Public Schools.
A bloc of attendees of a recent town hall on the budget in Randallstown were wearing red, signifying they are members of the Teachers Association of Baltimore County, TABCO, the teachers’ union. Dozens of educators, including Christine Phillips, who teaches Spanish at Woodlawn High School, sent the message to Olszewski that the school system needs pay hikes.
“We can make more money in other professions,” Phillips told Olszewski. “This budget must increase teacher salaries to attract and retain educators.”
Olszewski said teacher pay has improved and the number of jobs has increased as well, although he added he wants to do more.
“Over the past four years, we’ve hired over 300 additional teachers and support personnel through our budgeting process, and we announced a significant mid-year increase for our educators and support professionals,” Olszewski said.
Last September, Olszewski and school officials announced a $76 million deal to increase teacher salaries, but TABCO leaders said it fell short of what it had negotiated with the school system.
That deal fell apart because Olszewski said the school system had no long-term plan to pay for it, and it came after the county had finalized its budget for the year.
TABCO President Cindy Sexton said every year it is a concern that its negotiations with school officials are not done before the school board passes its proposed budget and sends it to the county executive.
“That is something that just needs to be fixed systemically,” Sexton said. “How do you present a budget when you don’t know where negotiations are going to land?”
The relationship between Olszewski and the Baltimore County Public Schools is at times strained.
About half of the county’s budget, which this year totaled $4.3 billion, goes to the school system. Olszewski has criticized school officials for not finding fat in their own budget to help fund pay increases. But once Olszewski and the County Council approve the budget, they have little say over how the school system decides to spend the money.
Over the last several years, Olszewski and members of the County Council have looked for ways to gain more control over the school system, with no success. They’ve included floating the idea of giving Baltimore County’s Inspector General oversight over the school system and attaching strings to the money the county gives to BCPS.
There is a minimum amount that the state tells localities they have to give to their school systems each year. Olszewski is committing to an increase of at least $10 million above that minimum for the next four years.
School officials are asking for a $26 million increase in spending for the coming year.
School officials said the proposed budget the school board passed and forwarded to Olszewski includes a cost of living increase and a starting salary for teachers of $59,000. It currently is about $55,000.
However Sexton, TABCO’s president, said those details are still being negotiated.
“We’re close,” Sexton said. “Steps have been made on both sides.”
