MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. — Montgomery County School leaders are facing a number of tough decisions after the annual budget passed by County Councilmembers Thursday was $36 million less than what had been previously requested.
Just hours before their meeting to approve the budget, Councilmembers heard about possible shocking cuts to school services, higher student-teacher ratios and job offers being rescinded.
Just before the County Council took a final vote on a budget, the school system warned that they would possibly have to cut 320 teacher jobs.
MCPS leaders relayed to County Councilmembers that the district may have to let go 143 teachers and rescind 177 offers to teachers contracted for next year.
"This is so callous and so last minute," the President of Montgomery County's Education Association (MCEA) Jennifer Martin said. "We vigorously reject this ill conceived plan."
Martin addressed the Board of Education Thursday night and offered pointed criticism of its spending priorities.
The MCEA sent a letter to MCPS’ interim Superintendent Dr. Monique Felder highlighting areas totaling $30 million in cuts that the group feels could be made in contractual services to MCPS.
A decision regarding those cuts and the proposed teacher layoffs could be made in a June 11 meeting or possibly before.
"The fewer adults there are in a building, the more there are safety concerns," explained Martin. "The less individual attention kids get, the greater the workload for already overburdened teachers."
Roughly $2.9 billion of the school system's $3.3 billion budget goes towards employer salaries and benefits. When budgets get cut, it's usually people who end up feeling the brunt of those cuts, said Montgomery County Councilmember Will Jawando.
"We have not met the level of need for the school to maintain current services," argued Jawando, who abstained from Thursday's vote.
Jawando chairs the County Education and Culture Committee, which recommended $46.5 million more for schools than the county executive had proposed. On Thursday, the council only approved half of that recommendation. He issued a statement expressing deep concern about the school system's predicament.
"I just don't think there's the will to restore the funding, unfortunately, by the council," said Jawando.
A decision MCEA President Martin says isn't enough to care of students.
"Three hundred and some [teachers] sounds like 'so what.' Well, we don't have enough people now to take care of the 160,000 students," Martin said.
The MCEA sent a letter to MCPS's interim Superintendent Dr. Monique Felder highlighting the cuts.
Meanwhile, Councilmember Jawando says Montgomery County is spending less per student than it did in 2000, when inflation is taken into consideration. He called it a "structural problem" which the county will almost certainly face next year as well.
County Executive Marc Elrich did propose a property tax increase in 2023 to supplement education funding but the Council didn't approve the full amount Elrich requested.
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