Maryland’s second-largest school system reached a tentative agreement with its teachers union this week, after a roughly two-month impasse.
The Prince George’s County Educators’ Association — which represents about 10,000 educators — announced the agreement in a statement Wednesday. The union characterized the deal as making “strides on empowering educators to lead the district,” but there was little information shared about the agreement’s details. A spokeswoman for the union said further details will be released in September, when the contract is ratified.
“Securing the tools and resources we need to bolster our students’ success has been the primary focus for Prince George’s County educators,” Donna Christy, president of the union, said in a statement, “and this agreement lays the foundation to help us move our school communities from pandemic to promise and deliver a world-class education to all PGCPS students.”
A school system spokeswoman confirmed that an agreement had been reached and deferred further comment to the union Wednesday.
The union’s most recent contract ended June 30. The tentative agreement reached this week would extend over the next three years, ending in 2025.
In June, the union announced it was at an impasse with the school system, after it issued more than 100 proposals that included reduced class sizes and trauma-informed instruction. It also requested a roughly 8 percent pay increase instead of the 5 percent offered by the county. The union ran an advertisement campaign this year to bolster its calls for the school system to provide additional mental health supports for educators and improve teacher-retention initiatives.
Maryland teachers have been advocating for more support from school systems’ administrators, following two years of virtual learning and a return to in-person instruction last fall. Many have said they’re experiencing burnout, while attempting to catch students up academically, socially and emotionally.
In Montgomery County — Maryland’s largest school district with about 160,000 students — teachers union president Jennifer Martin has shared at multiple school board meetings that an increased number of teachers are leaving the profession due to the amount of accrued stress and low pay. Montgomery County Public Schools is setting out to fill hundreds of teacher and staff vacancies before the school year begins Aug. 29.
In the District, the Washington Teachers’ Union and the public school system failed to reach an agreement in July on a labor contract that is already three years expired.
Leaders from the Washington Teachers’ Union say there has been “no significant progress” in negotiations with the school district. Without a new contract, D.C. teachers haven’t had raises that keep up with cost of living, and no financial or other incentives to fill vacancies, said Jacqueline Pogue Lyons, the union’s president.
“It’s been very disappointing,” Lyons said in a statement.
Lauren Lumpkin contributed to this report.
Abortion/sex education: Fairfax students call for sex ed reform after fall of Roe v. Wade | College-shopping students have a new query: Is abortion legal there? | The fall of Roe scrambles abortion training for university hospitals | These teens always had abortion rights. Now they face a ‘post-Roe’ world
School safety: D.C. schools must report on classroom door locks, faulty HVACS under proposal | Montgomery County leaders address rise in youth violence | School shootings rose to highest number in 20 years, federal data says
Coronavirus: D.C.-area schools see spike in teacher resignations | D.C. school enrollment expected to drop after years of increases | A quarter of D.C. kids are behind on routine vaccines, officials say
Higher ed: Justice Thomas bows out of teaching fall seminar at GWU law school | UDC president, longest serving in school history, to step down in 2023 | Ex-Georgetown tennis coach sentenced to 2½ years in admissions scandal | Youngkin pushes for more say in Virginia community colleges search
Other area news: Judge lets grand jury keep investigating sexual assaults in Loudoun schools | Whittle suspends operations at D.C. school after financial problems | D.C. schools and teachers struggle to reach contract after 3 years
