School classroom size could shrink but district costs could skyrocket if proposed legislation, strongly supported by state teachers unions, goes through the Maryland General Assembly.
“This is just about the worst legislation I’ve seen” in 11 years on the job, said Don Kopp, director of labor relations for Montgomery County Public Schools.
The law would remove the State Board of Education from labor issues by establishing a separate five-member board to resolve labor disputes and determine all subjects suitable for bargaining, including maximum class size.
Currently, local school boards determine many of those subjects.
“To say state and local boards should deal with educational policy, while a separate board deals with bargaining, is to presume those are separate,” Kott said. “And they’re absolutely not.”
Unions like the law because they believe it ensures objectivity in addressing complaints.
“The bottom line is we don’t believe the school board can be an independent arbitrator when the dispute is against them,” said Bonnie Cullison, president of Montgomery County’s teachers union, who debated Kopp outside of Tuesday’s school board meeting.
But Kopp believes the law strips state and local boards of a long-developed bargaining position, while handing more power to unions by opening the playing field to any type complaint.
Most irksome, he said, is a provision granting final decision-making power to a third-party negotiator provided by the statewide board.
“There are absolutely no standards for the arbitrator,” Kopp said, implying he or she could be partial to union positions.
In addition, there are serious financial implications, said Larry Bowers, the schools’ chief operating officer.
“Suppose the union comes in and says, ‘We want no more than 20 kids per classroom,’” Bowers said, explaining the new law would allow them to bring that complaint to the new board.
“That’s millions of potential budget dollars” decided upon by an outsider, Bowers said.
Cullison, along with Donald Briscoe, her counterpart for the Prince George’s County teachers union, thinks district concerns are overblown.
“I would think the arbitrator would be aware of the overall budget,” Briscoe said, “and what could and could not be done.”
