Dear Members,

The bargaining committee met with management on March 4^th. The meeting lasted around 11 hours, and a tentative agreement (TA) was reached.   Several steps must take place before the language in the TA is enacted:

The MSCA Board will vote on whether to recommend  that the TA be ratified.
The MSCA  will conduct a ratification vote.
If ratified, the Commissioner of the Board of Education will be then submit a funding request to the executive branch.
If the funding request is approved, the CBA will be funded through already earmarked reserved funds.

The bargaining team requests that members continue to work to rule.  We know all too well that a TA is not a guarantee of a final settlement of a bargained agreement.

Members may have seen an email from the COP that indicated we had reached an “amicable” agreement.  This is a lie.  And, it is an insult to our intelligence. Everyone at the table on March 4th knows it is a lie.  The MSCA bargaining team repeatedly expressed our contempt for the management bargaining team’s process and the content of their proposals.   And, the COP team expressed contempt for us and our proposals as well.  There was nothing amicable about it.