New MCPS Contract Highlights

MCPS Members: Read The Full Contract Settlement

Please note: Language that has been deleted from the previous contract is contained in “balloons” to the right of the new contract language; language that is new to this contract is indicated by underlines.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact SEIU Local 500 at (301) 740-7100.

> Read the full text

Budget Settlement Reached, MCPS Furloughs Averted

MCPS has reached an agreement with the County Executive and County Council today on the MCPS budget for the 2010-11 school year. The agreement reduces the MCPS budget by an additional $24.4 million beyond that proposed by the County Executive. MCPS employees, however, will not be furloughed.

The additional cut will include $19.7 million from the operating budget and $4.7 million from the capital budget, which funds construction and technology. The MCPS Budget Committee, which includes representatives of the three MCPS unions, will meet to make recommendations to the Board of Education as to how the additional cuts will be absorbed. We are confident that the additional cut can be absorbed without resorting to furloughs.

Make no mistake - these cuts, on top of the $137.7 million that the County Executive already cut from next year's school budget - will have an impact. Our top priority, as always, will be to protect the jobs of our members.

> Read the entire Joint Union Statement

Local 500 Annapolis Lobby Night A Shining Success

March 1st was our 2010 Montgomery County Education Night in Annapolis.  This year nearly 100 members of SEIU Local 500, MCEA, MCAAP, and MCCPTA met with state Senators and Delegates who are part of the Montgomery County delegation to discuss how essential state education aid to MCPS is to our students and communities.

Arnetta Rolling, a security assistant at Walter Johnson High School and a first-time member-lobbyist, said of the evening, "It's inspired me to get more active.  They're our legislators -- we send them to Annapolis and they want to hear from us.  Everybody's got to make an effort.  I'm looking forward to learning more about how MCPS is funded and the budget process."

Another first-time member-lobbyist, Bella Portillo of Oak View Elementary, told organizers she came to Annapolis, "because I'm very concerned about the future of supporting services in general and specifically how our students will be affected if positions are cut."  According to Portillo, her District 20 delegates were impressed by Local 500 members' commitment to service and students and vowed to do everything they could in a difficult year to fund MCPS.

> View more photos at Local 500's Flickr site

Four Decades & Counting, Workers Standing Together

Decades ago a small group of supporting service employees in the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) had a vision of uniting all support staff to empower a workforce to believe they were entitled to decent wages, benefits, and rights.

Along with this vision, support staff professionals had big dreams: job security, career opportunities, respect and hope for a better future for their families. This is their legacy to us. This is part of our history. The visionary leaders of our local union’s past give us hope and a model of strength as we face future challenges. This is their story; it is our story.

> Download SEIU Local 500’s History, Vision and Plan to Win