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Monday, October 18, 2010

Baltimore Contract Grants “Achievement Units” for Union Work | Intercepts

Baltimore Contract Grants “Achievement Units” for Union Work | Intercepts

Baltimore Contract Grants “Achievement Units” for Union Work

Here’s a provision of the proposed Baltimore Teachers Union contract that escaped my notice but caught the eye of the editors of the Washington Post. The tentative agreement – voted down by the BTU rank-and-file – proposes a system by which teachers would be paid not strictly according to years and college credits, but by “achievement units” accumulated.

A teacher would receive 12 AUs for the highest grade on an evaluation and 1 AU for each college credit. But work your way to page 9 of the tentative agreement and you find a teacher is to be awarded 3 AUs annually for being a union building representative.

District and union officials have made it plain that