by Allison Bourg
ABC2 News
November 19. 2015
No volunteering at after-school activities, no chaperoning field trips and no returning parent emails outside of school hours.
Those are just some of the things that more than a thousand teachers in Anne Arundel County are refusing to do as part of their efforts to push for higher salaries.
The protest, known as a work-to-rule protest, has been happening at schools throughout the county since the Anne Arundel Board of Education approved a contract last month omitting step increases based on years of teaching experience and stipends for teachers in low-income schools. Teachers got an across-the-board 2 percent raise.
Work-to-rule means teachers do only what’s required in their contracts, and nothing more.
Such protests have a long history in Maryland, where it is illegal for educators to strike.
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Work-to-rule can be controversial. Jeanne Allen, founder and president emeritus of The Center for Education Reform, said the action demonstrates “complete disregard for the needs of children.”
“This is yet another example of why Maryland needs a strong charter law, to provide critical options to families and teachers to work together without the shadow of union contracts that impede learning and student progress,” Allen said in a statement.