The school system announced Thursday that the Frederick County Teachers Association has reached a tentative agreement with the Frederick County Board of Education. Given the state of the economy, the tentative agreement forgoes cost-of-living raises and salary step increments while suspending for one year an annual leave cash-out option.

"The only thing being bargained for this year was pay and benefits," union President Gary Brennan said Thursday. "All of the other language was part of a three-year agreement."

School board President Jean Smith said she appreciated the hard work and cooperative spirit of the association.

"Everyone understood there was no money this year," she said Thursday. "They really worked with us."

Both Smith and Brennan mentioned last year's drawn-out, emotional negotiations.

"After last year, this year could have been very different, but I'm very happy it worked out the way it did," Smith said.

Brennan said some tough talking had to be done, but both groups are beyond the hard feelings of last year.

"I don't look back and fight old battles," he said. "It's what can I do for my membership now? What can I do for public education now?"

Both sides realized the most important accomplishment this year would be to ensure that no one lost their job.

"We wanted to hold the line and save jobs," Smith said. "And unless there are more big cuts, I feel comfortable there won't be any layoffs."

Smith said she and her board colleagues were willing to look at anything except increased class size to come up with needed savings. Larger classes would mean the loss of teaching jobs, and Brennan said if that had happened, there was a chance that job losses would have exceeded the number of people leaving the system voluntarily, which would mean laying people off.

Whatever happens to the system's budget, expectations of teachers never decrease and in fact increase, Brennan said. Each year, the bar is set higher for standardized tests, and teachers are the front-line employees in the battle for adequate yearly progress in their schools.

He hopes having a contract at the beginning of the new year will boost morale.

"We wanted to get this done in the most professional way we could and we think we've done that," he said.

If there's a regret, Brennan said it's the lack of a domestic partner benefit, which he said the teachers will continue to propose.

"We will continue to bring it to the table," he said. "We'll continue to try to show why it's the right thing to do."

Smith said she is grateful for the spirit of participation and cooperation shown by FCTA.

"In these tough times, people pulled together to get the job done," she said.

Brennan said the FCTA board is recommending that the membership approve the agreement, and said the voting will be done by June 8. He hopes to sign the contract at the June 10 school board meeting.

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