The "Landmark" contract in practice

When the new contract was voted for by Baltimore City teachers, I was really wavering whether I should vote for it. On paper, the contract looks great, but, in practice, I had some reservations: North Avenue has never showed itself to be very efficient with paperwork or availability, so putting an office there in charge of AUs (Achievement Units, for going above-and-beyond or taking credits) was disconcerting.

I ended up voting for the contract, because (a) I thought the old system, that gave raises every year regardless, was broken; and (b) I liked the thought of being rewarded for doing good work that helped kids. However, the problem with certification of AUs is certainly occurring. Until June 30th, teachers were encouraged to submit necessary paperwork (online) for any credits attained previously that did not create any salary increase for yourself.

I submitted 18 credits:

3 MSDE credits for having a student teacher (I've received no $$ for this at all, and was scheduled to receive $85 from the college... it's never came to fruition)

6 credits from Coppin State University (Reading classes that renewed my certification, but didn't create any salary increase)

9 credits I purchased for doing National Board Certification (I was unsure if a stipend was a salary increase, but thought I would submit just in case)

Each of these submissions was rather involved, and required getting transcripts and paperwork and submitting online along with written descriptions. They were also all done separately, as was required. It was not a very easy or user-friendly process.

About 6 weeks after submitting all of these credits, last week, I received an e-mail last week that says simply this:

*******************************
From CPSC Team
To (My name)
Sent 01-Aug-2011 23:50:56
ID 3463092
Rejection Reason Credits are not eligible for AUs.
Last Approver CPSC Team
User Name PQH_ROLE:66
Copyright (c) 2006, Oracle. All rights reserved.
*******************************

That's it. No explanation, no description of which credits were reviewed, just that "credits not eligible for AUs" - don't even know which ones. Clearly, as described by the contract, at least 9 of the 18 should be eligible. When the Union (and the Union people that the Union brought in from NYC) was selling the contract to us teachers, this is how they sold it -- that the AU system would allow excellent teachers to move up the ladder quickly. One lady even gave her name and said to personally e-mail her if there were any problems with submissions, because, if so, she was selling something that wasn't valid. She really believed in the contract and kind of made me believe, too. I'm going to look up her name (she's a Spanish teacher at Western).

I replied to the e-mail from the system, and have yet to hear back (of course). North Avenue is such a difficult-to-navigate place, that I don't know what my next step should be.

So, I'm left with a contract that gives me a pay cut.

I was at Step 13 on the old contract, with a Master's Degree. The salary was $63,340 (Link).

With the new contract, I have been placed on the Professional Pathway, Interval 2. The salary is $60,881. Huh?

The dollar signs in my eyes when I signed the new contract have not materialized at all. Is there a screw up? What happened?

I'm still hopeful the process for becoming a Model Teacher can be fruitful for me, because that represents my real desire for the new contract. It seems like I should be in the running (National Board, mentoring new teachers, high test scores), but I'm not optimistic that it will work out, especially given how the rest of the contract has shaken out for me so far.