County Education Association

Howard County Council Democrats and Republican County Executive Charles I. Ecker have come to an uneasy, but workable compromise on a $270.3 million, 1992 spending package that preserves most county jobs while raising property taxes and foregoing teacher raises.Under the spending blueprint, property taxes will rise by 14 cents to $2.59 per $100 of assessed value -- its highest watermark since 1978. The county school board will be unable to honor a contract salary increase for teachers for the first time in the county's history.

Having hewed to his campaign pledge of no new taxes in this year's spending plan, Howard County Executive Charles I. Ecker is now taking the inevitable drubbing from factions that didn't get what they wanted. Welcome to the damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't world of recessionary politics. His proposal doesn't raise taxes or cut services. It gives most county workers a 2 percent longevity pay raise, provides for new police officers and libraries and advances Howard's recycling effort.The Howard County Education Association wants more.

The good news for Harford County Executive Eileen M. Rehrmann is that she just closed the books for the last fiscal year and the county ended up $13 million in the black. The bad news, for her, is that anyone else has to know about it.Having a surplus is certainly preferable to running a deficit. And Harford's balance -- officials prefer to call it an "undesignated fund balance" because it sounds uglier -- is as good as gone already, because of $8.6 million in state cuts the county must absorb.

The county that just finished laying off 40 people, freezing salaries and slashing its budget felt flush enough yesterday to give more than 1,400 employees Friday off.The cost of a day off with pay for most Howard County employees: about $200,000, according to County Administrator Raquel Sanudo.County Executive Charles I. Ecker said he wanted to give employees a four-day weekend for the Fourth of July to boost morale.But some union representatives questioned whether the day off would make up for last month's layoffs and the decision to freeze the salaries of police officers, teachers, firefighters and other workers.

Carroll school officials canceled contract talks last week with the five groups representing workers because of the death of Kenneth F. Mussari, the district's longtime personnel director and a former English teacher.Mussari, who had served in the position since the mid-1970s, was an integral part of negotiations with the groups representing teachers, plant and maintenance, food service and clerical workers.Duties within Mussari's department have been reassigned among thestaff to provide help to William R. Rooney, Carroll's supervisor of personnel, until the district feels it is appropriate to advertise and conduct a search to fill Mussari's position.

A Howard County council member has suggested closing down the local government for as many as five days during the holidays to save money during the current budget crunch.Councilwoman Shane Pendergrass, D-1st, said yesterday that the county could save $175,000 per day in pay to employees for each day it shuts down. Police and fire services would not close, she suggested.Pendergrass made the recommendation to County Executive Charles I. Ecker.Later the County Council heard from county residents who gave their views on which services to cut and which to spare in the effort to offset a $9.5 million budget shortfall.

Editor's note: The Board of Education, in contract negotiations withthe Carroll County Education Association, plans to require all high school physical education teachers hired after July 1991 to coach at least two sports. We have been asking readers whether they think the school board should make coaching mandatory for high school phys ed teachers and whether they think physical education training automatically makes those teachers more qualified to coach. Here are some of the replies we received so far:From: William L. RobinetteWestminsterFirst: Why would this be necessary?

If residents become as agitated as teachers and public employees have over the county's new $270 million austerity budget that takes effect July 1, County Executive Charles I. Ecker will not bear the brunt alone.The County Council will share the blame. With monotonous yeses, the council on Thursday approved the three bills and 41 resolutions that made the fiscal 1992 budget a legislative reality Thursday.In so doing, the council unanimously adopted every controversial aspect of Ecker's budget -- a 14-cent property tax increase, elimination of raises for county employees and the killing of previously agreed-to pay increases for the 2,700-member Howard County Education Association.

The $554 million operating budget for the coming school year proposed by Howard County Superintendent Sydney L. Cousin last week drew early praise from Board of Education members and the education and political communities. "I think what you are hearing is a board that is broadly satisfied with this budget," said Chairman Joshua Kaufman about the fiscal 2007 fiscal budget plan unveiled Thursday. "We look forward to working with our counterparts in the County [Council]." Cousin's plan would fund 130 new teaching positions; increase teachers' salaries by 3.5 percent; provide $70.1 million for special education, an increase of $4.8 million; spend $1.5 million to add all-day kindergarten to 10 elementary schools; and pay for $10 million in employee benefits.

Characterizing the months-long negotiations as "long and laborious" as well as "collaborative," the Howard County Board of Education and the Howard County Education Association have reached a tentative two-year contract agreement that would increase teacher salaries. Teachers would receive raises of 3 percent the first year and 3.5 percent the next. Many teachers also would be eligible for step increases - raises based on experience. School and union officials said yesterday at a news conference at the Board of Education building that salary increases were necessary to keep the state's top-performing school system competitive in the job market.