Baltimore's most successful middle school is laying off staff and shortening its school day to meet demands of a teachers union contract in what is one of the first major disputes over teacher pay between a charter school and a union.
KIPP Ujima Village Academy, based on a model that has forged a successful track record among poor students in more than a dozen states, has been violating a contract requiring teachers to be paid more if they work extra hours, school and union leaders acknowledge.
After seven years of ignoring the issue, the Baltimore Teachers Union told the charter school earlier this year that it must pay its teachers 33 percent more than other city school teachers because they were working nine hours and 15 minutes a day, as well as every other Saturday. The standard workday for teachers is seven hours and five minutes.
KIPP leaders say the majority of its more than two dozen teachers are comfortable with their hours and pay, but the union spokeswoman, Jessica Aldon, said the union was responding to complaints.
Advocates say the confrontation goes to the heart of what they see as a major weakness of Maryland's charter school law: Teachers must be part of the union in their school district and subject to the contract. If the issue is not resolved, KIPP may ask state lawmakers to allow schools greater flexibility in determining teachers' pay and workdays.
KIPP has been paying its teachers 18 percent above the salary scale, but could not afford to increase all teachers' salaries by 33 percent, according to Jason Botel, executive director of KIPP Baltimore. So it decided to stagger staff starting times and cut back on the hours students are in school when they return to classes next month.
Students will attend classes for eight hours in the next school year, and Saturday classes have been canceled. The four layoffs include one music and one art teacher who were recently let go, as well as two staff members who worked with special education and struggling students.
Botel said he hopes to negotiate a compromise that will provide more flexibility "for the good of the teachers and the viability of the KIPP model in Baltimore."
The changes have been hard, he said, but teachers worked out a schedule they believe will have the least effect on the school's 340 students in the months ahead. However, he said, the situation is not viable long-term.
