There is not much news to report on the bargaining front so far. Despite slow and scant progress, it’s only fair to inform members that negotiations are underway. As stated in the collective bargaining agreement that deadline was …the second Friday in October. There has been a second session as well. To date most of the work done was to lay out a negotiating schedule through February and discuss our “likely” priorities. We also took considerable time to hear from a series of seven consultants from three specialist categories that brought detailed information that will inform both parties when length of work year decisions are on the table.
The parties agreed that November 20 would be the deadline for either party to introduce new topics. That date provides time from the Board convene at its November 15 retreat, and time for TAAAC to complete its survey. Members will be receiving a link to the negotiation survey in the next few business days.
COUNTY COUNCIL DISTRICT 5
For reasons already outlined in public media, Anne Arundel’s council race in District 5 has captured some attention well beyond the county limits. TAAAC recorded a video of the debate between Patrick Armstrong and Michael Peroutka earlier this month and recently isolated the exchanges related to education as a sort of highlight recording for educators. The video is available below and the list of TAAAC – recommended candidates is listed here.
