The teachers union in Prince George’s County, Maryland, said Wednesday it has reached a tentative agreement with the school system on a new contract.
Donna Christy, the president of the Prince George’s County Educators’ Association, said the deal will empower teachers to lead Maryland’s second-largest school system and help improve student outcomes.
The tentative agreement comes more than a month after the union’s previous contract expired. The group’s last agreement expired June 30, and Christy said in June that the negotiation process had reached an impasse, criticizing the county for failing to address pay or planning-time concerns.
“This agreement is an important step toward building our vision for our students, and reaching this point was made possible by the creative thinking and perseverance of our bargaining team members, who bring that same energy and inspiration to their schools every day,” Christy said in a statement.
The exact terms of the deal haven’t been disclosed, but Christy said the union’s 10,000 members will vote to ratify the three-year contract in the coming weeks.
The union previously called for an 8% raise in the first year of a new contract, and a 7% raise in the next two years.
WTOP has contacted the school system for comment on the tentative agreement.
Earlier this summer, the group organized a rally to urge the school system to address its concerns. At the time, Christy said the union told school leadership that competitive salaries and regular planning time are required to help fill vacant positions.
In June, the school system said in a statement that four of five unions had agreed to “historic compensation increases” and that the county planned to increase pay for loss of planning time.
Christy said that same month that the group’s leadership couldn’t think of a time in recent memory that it went through the impasse process.
The first day of school in Prince George’s County is Aug. 29.
