KIPP, Teachers' Union Go Toe to Toe in Baltimore

Yasmene Mumby, left, teaches an 8th grade social studies class at Ujima Village Academy Elementary/Middle School, one of two schools operated by KIPP Baltimore. Teachers' work hours have been at the center of a dispute between KIPP and the Baltimore Teachers' Union.

—Kenneth K. Lam/The Baltimore Sun

Talks center on how much to pay educators for extra-long hours

By Mary Ann Zehr

Leaders of the KIPP charter schools are optimistic that they can reach a long-term agreement with the Baltimore Teachers Union in a nationally watched dispute over teacher pay for an extended school day, reducing the likelihood that the charter network will carry out its threat to close its two schools in that city.

Jason Botel, the executive director of KIPP Baltimore, said last week that the union had indicated its willingness to negotiate a 10-year agreement that “meets our needs.” If such a deal became final, he said, the KIPP organization would stop trying to push through the Maryland legislature a bill giving it flexibility to amend an existing collective bargaining agreement as long as 80 percent of teachers in a school agreed to it.

At issue is a desire by KIPP, the Knowledge Is Power Program , not to pay teachers the full hourly rate specified in union contracts for working beyond the regular school day. Longer school days, and even some Saturday classes, are key to the teaching philosophy of the national KIPP network, which now includes 99 public schools in 20 states, and it’s also integral to several other charter school models across the country. The practice has raised questions over the years about whether those schools could sustain their programs...