Because hundreds of people like you showed up to protest Jim Smith's school cuts we've drawn a great deal of new attention to our cause. The Sun was there. The major networks were there. Read some of the coverage through the links below:

Teachers Rally for Pay Raise (Baltimore Sun)

County's Teachers Protest to Demand Wage Increases (Examiner)

TABCO Members Send Message in Towson (WBAL.com)

Teachers Protest to Get Raises (WBALTV.com)

Baltimore County Teachers Go Work-to-Rule (WJZ.com)

Teachers Rally for a Raise (ABC2 News.com)

If you haven't already, don't forget to sign the petition to County Executive Jim Smith.

Last week, Baltimore County teachers delivered over 32,000 postcards to County Executive Jim Smith and the County Council. In addition, to date nearly 1,300 people have signed our our online petition to Jim Smith.

Our community cares about education and we expect our county officials to maintain the high quality public schools that have helped make Baltimore County such a great place to live. Good schools impact our economy, they increase housing prices and they give Baltimore County respect throughout the state and throughout the nation.

But there’s much more work to be done. If you haven’t already, please sign up to march for better schools. We need your voice to show Jim Smith that the public won’t forgive him if he continues to shortchange education.

When:

Tuesday, April 1
Begin gathering at 3 PM
March begins at 4 PM

Where:

Towson Courthouse
400 Washington Avenue
Towson

I am a young teacher trying to attend (and pay for) graduate classes in order to complete my master’s degree, attempting to purchase a home and struggling to make ends meet. This is without next year’s undoubted raise in the cost of gas, health insurance and regular day-to-day items.

…I speak to my family in New York, which has an enormously higher salary (and pension percentage) for teachers. I speak to college friends who teach in other counties in Maryland with far greater step increases and college tuition reimbursements, and who still are receiving cost-of-living adjustments for next year well above 2 percent.

In having these conversations, it becomes clear why so many teachers leave Baltimore County for other employment opportunities every year. It becomes obvious why, well into the school year, many schools struggle to fill teaching vacancies (surprising since the county is rumored to be excessing many teachers at the end of this year).

Read the full text of Jennifer's letter in the Dundalk Eagle.

Highlights of the Baltimore County Teachers Association response to Jim Smith:

Recently County Executive Smith wrote a press release letter (3/4/08) to teachers regarding his decision to not include, in his upcoming FY09 budget, salary increases for ALL teachers and other county employees. Interestingly this letter was not sent to teachers, but instead was sent to all of the media. In his four page letter, the County Executive stated selected facts and figures to support his decision. Unfortunately, it’s the facts and figures he didn’t select that raise questions about his fiscal priorities. We do agree with some of his facts, however, below we have outlined major points we feel he either failed to highlight or only gave partial information to describe.