13,548

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a constant awareness of the changing realities of our

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everyday life and at the same time a recognition of our

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obligation to protect and maintain our tradition of demo-

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cracy.

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I submit, at this time, that collective bargain-

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ing for the citizens of this State has evolved as a partisan

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part of public policy. Collective bargaining is a part of

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our heritage. Our challenge in this Convention was to

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perfect it. Constitutional recognition in this area should

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have been evaluated on the basis of implementing, not

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restricting, collective bargaining, but I am afraid that

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the delegates in this Convention have thought otherwise.

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I have mixed emotions about this question because

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I am a member of a teachers' union, but I am also at the

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same time a member of a teacher's professional association.

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This auditing of my membership grows out of the

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peculiar circumstances that we have in the teaching pro-

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fession in Baltimore City. I think the collective bargain-

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ing phrase in the Constitution would have been of great

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assistance to teachers throughout the State for when I

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started teaching as a teacher in Baltimore City, my salary