School unions held a press conference Thursday to call on the county to fully fund the school board’s proposed operating budget.
“What we are asking the county executive and the county council to do now is hard, and it takes courage,” said David Stein, president of the Montgomery County Education Association. “It takes courage to make hard decisions during hard times, and now is one of those times.”
Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Superintendent Dr. Thomas Taylor and Board of Education President Julie Yang joined the press conference outside the Executive Office Building in Rockville.
“The consequence of underfunding and under-supporting our schools’ budget will be costly — more costly than funding it,” Taylor said. “It will show up in teacher turnover, it will show up in staff turnover, it will show up in unfulfilled maintenance requests, and unmet learning needs.”
“Our local request is not just a number on a page, it is how we make sure our schools meet the high expectations of our community,” Yang said. She said the budget provides competitive salaries for educators, supports multilingual learners and students with special education needs, emphasizes math and literacy, and invests in safe, well-maintained schools.
In December, Taylor recommended a $3.61 billion operating budget for the next school year, which is a nearly nine percent increase over the current budget. This month, school board members opted to add $36.7 million, explaining the need to increase the request was due to a decrease in state dollars.
“This budget calls for pay increases that honestly just barely keep up with inflation,” Stein said. He said, “This is, if anything, a bare bones budget.”
“The Montgomery County Council must fully fund MCPS to meet our staff and students’ urgent and growing needs, especially in special education services,” said SEIU Local 500 President Pia Morrison.
“We are here today with our union sisters and brothers as one united voice,” said Dr. Christine Handy, president of Montgomery County Association of Administrators and Principals. “Administrators, educators, staff, parents, and community members standing together to send a clear message to our county executive and the county council: fully fund our schools.”
Press conference in Rockville calling on county leaders to fully fund school board’s proposed budget @mymcmedia pic.twitter.com/IYxg9TbBpl
— Maryam Shahzad (@maryam_mcm) February 27, 2025
