A bargaining strategy where educators and their unions join together with parents and other stakeholders to demand change that benefits not just educators, but students and the community as a whole. Read our Bargaining Platform.
We all want our kids to go to schools that foster a love of learning and give them the tools they need to succeed. At PGCEA we use our collective bargaining as a critical moment in a broader campaign to win that change.
Starting in 2019 we have used Bargaining for the Common Good, to partner with the community around a long-term vision for the structural changes we all want to see in our community.
Educators partner with parents and community members in order to identify issues and utilize bargaining, or other forms of advocacy, as a vehicle to make demands for the entire community.
Our contract negotiations provide an opportunity for educators and PGCEA to involve the larger school community in the vision we want for our school and neighborhood. Instead of being alone and isolated in negotiations, we are joining together with parents, and the community, to build our power.
When we expand the continuum of bargaining, we build power, and go on the offense in order to fight for social and racial justice, for our kids, for our schools, for our communities, and for the future.
When we unite and demand specific changes for our schools, everyone benefits.
In this bargaining cycle, every proposal we bring forward will challenge the elements of our school system that operate as average. Prince Georges County is exceptional. Our brilliance and innovation come from our diversity.
And yet, we have real challenges: vacancies, inefficiencies, and inequities. Prince George’s County Public School system must move beyond promises and towards real progress. We will fight the attitude of average expectations and find opportunities that elevate our students and communities.
Now is the time!
To become competitive in our region and address the educator shortage, we must go beyond the educator compensation outlined in The Maryland Blueprint for the Future.
Our salary scale must recruit and retain the best educators, keep healthcare costs reasonable while offering excellent benefits, and guarantee tuition and continuing education reimbursements to all who qualify.
Families and educators agree that smaller class sizes across Prince George’s County Public School system are a priority. Research has proven time and again that children learn better in classes that are not overcrowded. Staff workloads and related services ratios must allow intensive and meaningful interventions and support. Prince George’s County Public School system must address class sizes and ratios that negatively impact teaching and learning.
Our school day is overburdened by testing. Testing and other assessments can be beneficial when they provide helpful and timely data for educators, students, and families. Instructional time must be prioritized over testing. Student assessment and accountability must be based on authentic and meaningful student experiences.
Educators are best positioned to understand how their students learn, and they need the trust, academic freedom and respect to employ classroom strategies that accelerate student learning. Educators must be leaders in developing and implementing a curriculum designed to create a love of learning that will serve our students well beyond graduation. Appropriate training, meaningful professional development, and adequate preparation time are essential to successful curriculum and program implementation.
Educators want to spend more time planning their lessons and working with their students and less time on burdensome and unnecessary paperwork, documentation, and needless micromanagement. Educators need adequate preparation time and instructional support to prepare Prince George’s County students for college and careers. Unnecessary, duplicative, and time-consuming requirements and non-academic duties must be reduced so educators can focus their time and expertise on their students.
Many of our students bring a significant legacy of trauma and pain with them to school. We must create a school system that is responsive to their social and emotional needs through the expansion of restorative practices, trauma-informed instruction, social-emotional learning, and mental health support. Educators need tools, training, and support to respond immediately to behavioral disruption in the classroom and stay focused on student learning. Our community schools model requires all schools to have strong community involvement and provide essential services to students and families.
Educators and students thrive in safe and supportive learning environments. Too often, administrators intimidate staff weakening morale and driving educators to leave the system. Accountability must be improved to eliminate supervisors’ retaliatory and intimidating behavior. Our educators need the same commitment to customer service from central office and site-based administration that they are expected to provide students and families.
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