MSEA and SEA Violate Collective Bargaining Agreement in Somerset County
- Fellow Editors
- 11 hours ago
- 4 min read
Debate over a fictitious "book ban" published by the Somerset Education Association's President Phaedra Spencer is the upfront and center of discussion about Somerset County's media library policy 500-19, but the bigger issue may be buried deep under the surface.
The deeper issue is, why is the Somerset Education Association (SEA) involved in policies that have nothing to do with their organizational charter or collective bargaining agreement?
Their slogan is: "We've got your back," but we question whose back do they have?
As the President of the SEA , Phaedra Spencer explained: "My role as President of the SEA is to represent members of our Union, make sure our contract is followed and that everyone is treated in a fair and equitable way".
Collective bargaining agreements are contracts between the local Boards of Education and the Teachers' Union.
Those contracts focus on teachers salaries, discipline, sick leave and sick pay, health insurance, and retirement benefits strictly related to employment.
There is not a single word in those contracts about which books the Board approves annually for purchase, curriculum, what clothes parents purchase for their children (dress code policy), or what policy the Board approves regarding electronic devices or cell phones in classrooms etc.
Yet, teachers' union members were observed interfering into every single aspect of the lives of parents and students
Ms. Spencer's role and duty as the SEA President is NOT to post on Facebook anything about "banning books" or "banning Harry Potter" because book or library policies do not touch or concern the SEA contract with the Board, and completely unrelated to teacher salaries, teachers sick leave, or teachers retirement benefits.
Posts by Ms. Spencer were a clear and explicit violation of the SEA Agreement with the Somerset County Board of Education.
Chairman Matthew Lankford was within his right to call for disciplinary actions against her publicly and transparently.
His questions to SEA's President exposed deeper activism, which reflect a political campaign and political rhetoric designed to defame and smear the reputation of the Somerset County Board of Education and its members by concealing the truth about the Board's approval for purchase more than thousand book titles, and instead knowingly posting false and misleading information about "banning books" such as the "Diary of Anne Frank, "Harry Potter," and "To Kill a Mockingbird."
While Ms. Spencer may be disciplined appropriately, the issue of the MSEA's abandonment of its duties under their contract remain relevant.
As the President of the SEA, Ms. Spencer substantially departed from her assigned duties, which she defined as representing members of the Union in their respective contracts. Instead, she has sought to be an activist purely for personal and political reasons.
As a Media Specialist, she had full access to all the titles and books the board approved for purchase. Her understanding of "policy 500-19" could have easily been stated as a public comment by her, in her capacity as librarian. But she was not authorized to speak about the "book policy" by the SEA, because the book policy doesn't touch or concern the teachers.
Many teachers actually LIKE policy 500-19, and they appreciate the clear definition section and orderly catalogue of library materials.
Teachers were paid to teach. The Curriculum is approved by the State and the Board.
MSEA has absolutely no business interfering into the curriculum selection of HMH or SAVVAS. Yet they created a pure chaos in 2025 when they published false and misleading statements that the Board is not approving MSDE approved curriculum!
Those lies reached numerous organizations including the Maryland Office of the Inspector General for Education (OIGE). The OIGE opened an "investigation" into fake and false claims only to come and find out the HMH is an MSDE approved curriculum, which was approved by the Board.
Furthermore, 100% of the teachers who completed the HMH training for 2025/26 school year gave the curriculum 5-star ratings!
Think about it.
A 100% of teachers gave 5 stars to the HMH curriculum after receiving the training. The statement was provided about the curriculum and the teacher training conducted by the ELA Supervisor in the fall of 2025/26 during the open board meeting.
All board meetings can be viewed here:
The MSEA and its SEA branch have been operating as political activists, not as representatives of the Somerset County Teachers.
Their lies and deception have cost Somerset County thousands of dollars in legal fees.
Attorney reputation and credibility has been attacked relentlessly by the same SEA and MSEA activists simply for representing the Somerset County Board of Education in doing their job. The involvement in collusion between the MSEA and government agencies, and other liberal activists groups may be coming to light in the near future.
The citizens in Somerset County will soon learn that half of the teachers who they thought cared about their children are actually political activists who hate the conservative way of life on the Eastern Shore and seek to destroy any moral family values instilled in their children.
Fellows & Editors
August 21, 2026. Copyright DelmarvaPTC.org
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