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MSTA Convention 2006

MSTA Executive Director David Helfman's speech to the Representative Assembly

Do you remember your first year in your current job? I certainly do!

Last year was my rookie year at MSTA. The first time I addressed you, I was pitching slices of bread and shaking candy boxes, challenging you to shake up our membership and the General Assembly with our Push for Pensions.

My colleagues across the nation were astounded by our campaign. When we announced it, their jaws dropped. “When workers across the nation are losing their pensions and public school educators are being pummeled by the anti-labor right,” they asked, “how can you pull off a campaign to increase pensions?”

In January, a Washington Post headline read: “Lawmakers Pessimistic on Teacher Pension Plan.”

Three weeks before the close of the legislative session, the Gazette said in an editorial that MSTA “needs to be more realistic about today's marketplace and recognize the trends in the private sector away from old-fashioned pension programs.”

My response to the skeptics at the time: if anyone can teach the nation that workers can be treated with respect, that we have more in our future than wage and benefit concessions, MSTA can.

And you delivered! Each of you told very personal and compelling stories. From your schools and Local Association offices to the State House in Annapolis, the sustained effort you led, with exceptional support from your MSTA staff, convinced every single member of the General Assembly —even Andy Harris , the Baltimore County Senator who initially flipped his voting switch to “NO” when the vote was called, then quickly flipped it to “YES” when he realized he risked being the lone negative vote!

As we Pushed for Pensions, we built a stronger union:

Yes, thanks to each of you, it was a very memorable first year. I thank each of you for your efforts, and I thank your Board of Directors for providing me the opportunity—the privilege—to serve as your Executive Director.

Delegates, I have something I need to confess; something that may surprise you a bit. Although I am enormously proud of our effort, I am a bit disappointed by the results.

That may leave you scratching your heads. How can I consider a campaign which added almost $2 billion to the value of pensions for some 160,000 school and state employees disappointing?

The answer is simple. Last year, you passed a New Business Item calling for a 60 percent pension after 30 years of service. Although members retiring from the Pension System with 30 years of service from 2028 forward will see their pensions jump from 38 to 54 percent of pay, others will receive less, and members of the Retirement System will not get an increase.

Why didn't we do better?

If the leadership of the General Assembly and the vast majority of Delegates and Senators were on board, who failed us? Who?

Shouted by a delegate: The governor .

That's right! The governor.

Bob Ehrlich. Our decisive governor. Let me repeat that: Bob Ehrlich. Our decisive governor.

Bob Ehrlich decided to not fund the GCEI, a major component of the Thornton school funding bill.

Bob Ehrlich decided to create a Commission on Quality Education—the Steele Commission—and then decided , according to the lieutenant governor himself, that MSTA would not have a single seat on it, nor would we be consulted on its draft recommendations.

Bob Ehrlich decided to submit not one—but TWO—budget proposals to the 2006 General Assembly—neither of which included a single cent for better pensions.

Bob Ehrlich decided to remain silent on the pension issue during the legislative session and then stay silent about whether he'd sign or veto the bill that passed.

Bob Ehrlich decided to wait until the last moment to announce the bill signing and held the early-morning ceremony without notifying us, our coalition partners, or any of the bill sponsors.

And finally, Bob Ehrlich decided that he did not want our support in this election. He didn't even fill out a questionnaire or meet with us to pitch his candidacy or education platform.

Yes, Bob Ehrlich is a decisive leader.

But I ask you: are these the types of decisions we want from our governor?

What we need is a governor who will be decisive, but one who will make the right decisions. And that person is Martin O'Malley.

Martin O'Malley has already made, and will continue to make, much better decisions.

Now delegates, you know nobody runs a better grassroots campaign than MSTA. And the same is true of election campaigns. In the next seventeen days, we will teach the nation again.

Why does this matter? Think about it —the time you dedicate to the election effort in the next two and a half weeks will save you time over the next four years. This election is about so much more than which governor will be proposing education budgets and new State Board of Education members:

 

Delegates, Bob Ehrlich won the 2002 race by 66,000 votes. That's only one vote per MSTA member . As we intensify our election efforts, starting with Education Weekend this coming weekend and culminating with the distribution of some 400,000 Apple Ballots at the polls, we will increase turnout and convince voters to support candidates who support us…candidates who are true friends of public education. According to my count, we will end Election 2006 having made more than 2 million member-voter contacts.

I am not exaggerating when I say that we—MSTA—are the key to electing Great Leaders for Great Schools across Maryland, leaders who respect the role we play in educating our students, who are committed to strengthening public education, and who truly believe that every child has a basic right to attend a great public school.

The outcome is in our hands. Let's elect Great Leaders for Great Schools. Let's get it done!

 

 

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