Baltimore teachers are taking as many online college courses as they can to boost their annual salary before the city school district upends its current payment structure at the end of the month.
This year, the top choice for online classes has been Idaho State University. But on June 4, district leaders removed the university from its approved list of institutions — and said they would no longer accept credit from Idaho State after June 1.
The Baltimore Teachers Union says that’s against their contract — so they’ve filed an official grievance with the district.
“Part of the reason there's been such interest in these courses is because our current pay structure for next year is uncertain,” said Zach Taylor, the union’s director of negotiations. “So teachers are feeling anxious about, ‘what's the new system going to be?’ And they've created this incentive to make sure ‘I get everything I can now.’”
Emily Nielson, the district’s chief human capital officer, said over 700 teachers have submitted credits from Idaho State this year to be converted into “achievement units.” That’s around 10% of the Baltimore Teachers Union membership.
Taylor says teachers have been taking courses from ISU for achievement unit transfer for years. But Nielson said she believes only one teacher was using the courses for that last year.
Under the current teacher contract, one credit is equal to one achievement unit — and 12 of those translates into a pay bump.
“We were having staff members who are submitting for 60 Idaho State credits already this year,” Nielson said. “And that just raised some flags about, how can they be doing this much coursework and still working full time if these are in fact college credits? Which we, upon investigation, found that they weren't.”
District leaders launched an investigation into the courses in April.
Idaho State’s professional development center, which offers the online courses, describes them as “graduate level, non-degree, semester credits” that are equivalent to half the value of a typical semester course.
“These are self-paced courses, they’re video recordings that you watch, and you can be really diligent and watch them and take notes and digest material — or you can click through them,” Nielson said. “And the only assessment of your learning is a 20-question multiple choice quiz that you can retake as many times as you need to get a passing score.”
But Taylor says the courses are “rigorous” and from an accredited university. And the main incentive for teachers is their flexibility and affordability.
“ISU is just much more affordable; it's $55 per credit,” he said. “So three-credit courses are under $200. And there just aren't courses like that. If they were offered in Baltimore City, [teachers] would take them.”
Taylor also says district leaders have been unclear about communication with the ISU credits, and payments this year in general.
“Right now, the district has created a lot of anxiety, uncertainty, a lack of confidence, a lack of trust in our district leadership,” he said. “And it really is by their own doing. They told us this was okay, they put it in writing in our contract. And now they are yanking the rug out from teachers.”
Union says communication, details unclear
Taylor said there’s also a lot of confusion among teachers about which ISU credits will be accepted — especially since the official notice on June 4 came after the June 1 cut-off.
“People aren't even sure if they finished the course in May, if they can submit it in June because ‘I was waiting on the transcript’ or ‘I just hadn't submitted it yet,’” he said. “It's a very frustrating situation. And that leads us to a lot of questions about just organizational dysfunction that we see in our district.”
Nielson said the district gave initial notice of the acceptance changes at the end of May. But Taylor said it wasn’t clear whether the district was making the change for certain – until Idaho State disappeared from the approved list of institutions on the morning of June 4.
“Idaho State University had a semester start June 1,” he said. “I know literally dozens of teachers who spent all day Saturday and all day Sunday working. You can do 30 credits in a semester. So they spent over $1,600 of their own money to do this.”
Nielson said the ISU courses are eligible for the district’s professional development reimbursement. She also said the district is working to be more collaborative and open with the union.
The district and the union are still bargaining a new pay structure for the next school year. And this year’s contract was finalized in February — and added many updates, like raises and extra stipends for tutoring.
Taylor said the raises and retroactive payments for this school year have been delayed for some teachers. And many are simply confused about all the new elements.
“I have never seen this many emails or calls or concerns from teachers when it comes to their pay,” he said. “That's the context in which this ISU decision was made. And instead of being focused on what's going on in the classroom, and just focusing on ending the year strong, the district has created a huge distraction.”
