Teachers endorse only one incumbent
Association says Gardner is only current commissioner who addresses county’s education needs
Gazette by Sherry Greenfield
Thursday, September 28, 2006
The Frederick County Teachers Association is endorsing five candidates for the Board of County Commissioners — only one of whom is a current commissioner.
Three of the incumbents seeking re-election failed to make the association’s list.
Pending approval Wednesday night, after The Gazette’s press time, from 58 percent of its members, the association will endorse candidates Richard Floyd (D), David Gray (R), Kai Hagen (D), Charles Jenkins (R) and current Commissioner Jan H. Gardner (D).
The association represents 2,600 teachers, guidance counselors, media and reading specialists and athletic directors in the county’s public schools.
The re-election efforts of Commission President John ‘‘Lennie” Thompson Jr. (R) and commissioners Michael L. Cady (R) and John R. Lovell Jr. (R) are not endorsed by the association in the Nov. 7 General Election.
‘‘We would really like to see a board with a more united attitude toward education,” said Gary Brennan, president of the association. ‘‘Instead, we now have a board with no real vision and we don’t think the board ever developed a consensus toward education. We never had a board who had a real vision for education.”
While Brennan referenced the entire board, he stressed that Gardner is the exception, and in the association’s opinion, she understands the importance of education in the classroom.
The association would also like a new board that is concerned more with what goes on in the classroom and the level of education students receive, rather than only with building new schools, Brennan said.
More specifically, Brennan said the association did not support Thompson, Cady and Lovell’s success in lowering the property tax rate. The association contends that the tax cut reduced revenue in the operating budget, which in turn meant less money for teachers’ salaries.
Brennan said the association supported Commissioner Bruce L. Reeder (D) and Gardner’s unsuccessful compromise to lower the tax rate to 95 cents per $100 of assessed value, in an effort to collect revenue for the renovation of Linganore High School.
Brennan contends that because the property tax rate was lowered so much, teachers, on average did not receive as much of a raise as county employees did.
According to county manager Doug Browning, the Board of Education received 8 percent for teachers’ salaries from commissioners. This breaks down to a 4.5 percent cost of living increase for all, and a 3.5 percent step increase for some teachers. County employees received a 2 percent cost of living raise and a 3.5 percent step increase, Browning said.
Brennan said the association also did not support Thompson’s bill requiring salary negotiations between the Frederick County Board of Education and representatives for public school employees, to take place in open session. The negotiations currently take place behind closed doors.
Thompson proposed the bill in last year’s legislative package, but it did not make it through the Maryland General Assembly.
Meanwhile, Thompson and Cady are not pleased with Brennan and the association’s reasoning.
‘‘I’m disappointed that the leadership of the union would refuse to endorse a candidate because the candidate believed in lower taxes and open government,” Thompson said.
Cady, who is the liaison between commissioners and the school board, said he was ‘‘shocked,” to learn he was not endorsed. Hesaid he voted to eliminate the $100 property tax credit and instead put the money — roughly $1.675 million — toward pay raises for teachers.
Cady also does not buy Brennan’s assessment that the current board is more concerned with building new schools than giving money to operate schools.
‘‘They’re talking out of both sides of the mouth,” he said. ‘‘... We have worked to accommodate their wishes not to have overcrowded classrooms and provide them with competitive salaries and benefits.”
Lovell, who campaigns on a platform of ‘‘quality education” said when commissioners allocate funding from the operating budget it becomes a balancing act between teachers’ salaries and the needs of other county agencies and departments.
‘‘I have to meet a balance to make sure they get some of what they asked for and the other side gets some of what they asked for,” he said.
Meanwhile, Gardner is pleased she is being endorsed.
‘‘Education is my passion and I think it is a natural endorsement,” she said.
WHY I'M VOTING FOR KAI!
Martin Burns
Thurmont
Kai Hagen, has made a point to meet and discuss issues with me and how those issues impact Thurmont and Northern Frederick County. He is extremely knowledgeable and articulate on the vast complexities of County Government. As a resident of Northern Frederick County, he will be a critical voice for our region and ensure our interests are represented on the Frederick Board of County Commissioners. He lives here, let’s give him a chance to work...
More >>