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Baltimore Teachers' Contract Expires This Week

By: Cathy Duchamp // October 25, 2010
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Baltimore public school teachers could be working without a contract by the end of the week. The union rejected a new contract earlier this month that would tie teacher pay to student achievement. The current contract expires on Thursday.

Baltimore teachers rejected the first version of a new contract because it was too vague about how they would be evaluated on student performance. Part of that evaluation is supposed to be based on guidelines put together by the state of Maryland.

But last week, a state legislative committee delayed adopting the proposed guidelines. They would require student achievement to be at least 50 percent of a teacher's evaluation.

The impasse in Annapolis makes it harder for the Baltimore teachers union to write more specifics into its contract. It could also put federal Race to the Top funding at risk.

The likely scenario is that Baltimore teachers' union leaders will ask for some sort of extension of their existing contract while negotiations continue.

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