MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. — Contract negotiations for the 2023/2024 school year between the teachers union and Montgomery County Public Schools are stalled as the two sides can't agree on the rules for how they will negotiate.
Tuesday night, union members rallied outside and packed an annual meeting with the school board inside.
"The workload is crushing and soul draining and they can't take it anymore," one educator told the board.
Teachers say low pay has led to staffing shortages, and staffing shortages to even harder jobs, which means more teachers are ready to quit.
"Students' learning conditions are our working conditions," said Jennifer Martin, President of the Montgomery County Education Association.
The union says it has proposals for a new contract that could address some of the problems teachers have. But it accuses MCPS of stalling the negotiations and Tuesday filed an unfair labor practice charge with the state against MCPS.
The union says the district won't allow open negotiations where teachers can observe the process.
"We have to do our very best to make sure our kids are learning, but we are going to bargain hard," Martin said.
"A lot of our goals really are in alignment with theirs," said Brian Hull, the district's chief operating officer, and a former teacher himself.
Hull said the union won't budge on "ground rules" for negotiations and said Tuesday's labor complaint could delay work on a new contract several months.
"We will certainly look for any opportunities that we have to continue to engage with them," he said. "However, this certainly puts barriers in the way of that."
In the meantime, teachers say they will be in class for their kids.
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