Is the amount of money teachers receive for supplies in Prince George's County decreasing? This comes on the heels of the story WUSA9 first broke about six central office workers receiving thousands of dollars in secret raises, while a plan to give teachers a raise failed.
RELATED: Sources: Prince George's Co officials authorized secret pay raises for central office employees
Teachers are at their wits end, but the school district said funding has not decreased.
The controversy is over a line in the over $2 billion budget proposed for 2019. It calls for a $140,000 dollar, or 3 percent, cut in spending for teachers supplies. Teachers who dig into their pockets for supplies every day are outraged.
"I say I spend $500 a month and I am a physical education teacher," said Yvnonne Baichich, a PGCPS gym teacher.
PGCPS FY2019 Budget in Brief by WUSA9 on Scribd
A representative from the Prince George's County school district said the amount decreased in the budget because individual schools asked for less money for the next year. The district also pointed to the fact that there is an $8 million dollar increase in funding for individual schools. Principals are able to allocate that money for school supplies.
However, teachers said that principals sometimes allocate that money for different programs and activities, and teachers are left digging into their pockets for supplies.
"We run out of copy paper," said Baichich. "We literally have to go out and buy our own copy paper if we want to keep the lessons going."
The school district said this is not a final budget. They said they will listen to feedback from teachers and principals and present the final budget in 2018.
