Charter school operator to stay in city under new pact

A highly successful charter school operator that had threatened to pull out of Baltimore next school year because of the demands of the teachers union over pay announced Thursday that it has reached an agreement that will allow it to stay.

KIPP, which operates one of the city’s most successful middle schools, cut back its school hours and laid off staff a year ago, after the union said it was violating the contract and must begin paying its teachers 33 percent more than other city teachers because they were working longer hours.

KIPP Ujima Village Academy, the middle school, complied, but at a cost to the program that had been working successfully with low-income students in its Northwest Baltimore neighborhood, according to Jason Botel, executive director of KIPP Baltimore.

Botel said Thursday that under the new agreement, the charter school will pay teachers 20.5 percent more than their city counterparts, which will allow the school to stay open late and hold some Saturday classes.

“We will be able to restore hours at an affordable rate,” said Botel.

Teachers also will receive matching contributions to their pension funds and up to $300 for classroom supplies. But the contract is good for only a year.

“We need to establish a system in Baltimore where teachers in high-performing public schools like KIPP can choose to work an extended day within an affordable pay structure,” Botel said. “We do still feel ultimately the charter law will have to change.”

Maryland is one of the few states in the nation that requires teachers in charter schools to be part of the collective bargaining process, said Nelson Smith, president of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, a charter advocacy group. “A case like this raises important questions about the school’s ability to be autonomous,” he said.

Unlike other charter schools across the nation, Maryland’s have to abide by the union contract. The Baltimore Teachers Union had to agree to negotiate with KIPP about the extra pay for the longer hours that KIPP teachers work. KIPP was paying its teachers 18 percent more than city teachers for working an additional 9.5 hours.

The Knowledge Is Power Program was started by two Teach for America teachers in Houston in 1994. It has grown to 82 schools in 19 states. KIPP also runs the Harmony Academy in Baltimore.

The question had arisen, Botel said, as to whether the two KIPP schools could continue to use the name if they were not following the same program that offers strict discipline and long school days that require mandatory homework.

KIPP Ujima has a high percentage of low-income students and, in its seven years in Baltimore, it has posted some of the highest test scores in the city.

“Glad would be an understatement,” said Dale Green-Worrell, who has two children at KIPP and finds the dedication and loyalty of the staff unsurpassed by other schools her children have attended. “I am extremely grateful that we did have the opportunity for an additional year without an impact on the school.”

The teachers union did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Copyright © 2010, The Baltimore Sun