Board of Education, Teachers Agree To Contract — The Montgomery County Board of Education and Montgomery County Education Association came to a tentative deal over the weekend to grant raises for the school system’s 12,000 teachers. The 5.5 percent raise over three years mean $35.8 million in extra costs for the county, though those costs would be partially offset by higher health insurance premium payments. The contract also includes a system to encourage the best teachers to high-needs schools. [Washington Post]
Columnist: Winter Not Only Reason For Bikeshare’s Slow Start — A writer on the popular urban planning and transportation website Greater Greater Washington says a cold winter is not the only reason for Capital Bikeshare’s slow start in Montgomery County. Zach Rausnitz says a more complete bike network is needed in Rockville and more bike lanes, paths and infrastructure are needed in the rest of the county. The Friendship Heights station was Montgomery County’s most popular since the launch in September, with about 11 trips per day. Bethesda Row came second and Montgomery Avenue and East Lane third, both with about seven and eight trips per day. The most popular D.C. stations average more than 300 trips per day. D.C. stations added in the same time period averaged 14 and 25 trips per day. [Greater Greater Washington]
MoCo Watches State Minimum Wage Debate — Montgomery County, which passed a minimum wage raise to $11.50 an hour by 2017 last year, will watch as the debate on whether to raise the minimum wage statewide intensifies. Gov. Martin O’Malley backed a proposal to raise the statewide minimum wage to $10.10 an hour by 2016, though a report from a pro-business group released Monday said that would hurt the economy. [The Gazette]
Full Council To Talk Purple Line Station — The full Montgomery County Council is scheduled to discuss and take action on the Bethesda Purple Line Station Minor Master Plan Amendment, which would up the zoning of the Apex Building in an attempt to woo the building’s owners to redevelop. The worksession is set for 10:10 a.m. [Transportation Issues] [Land Use and Open Space Issues]
Flickr photo by AFTPorter
