By Adam Pagnucco.
In its meeting today, the county council issued a proclamation recognizing Teacher Appreciation Day. But members of the Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA) showed up en masse and had a message for the council: appreciation is nice, but money is better!
Teachers get ready for the show. From MCEA’s Instagram page.
The council issues proclamations regularly at its Tuesday meetings. For this one, the council members each listed one or more teachers who made a positive difference in their lives. Council Members Andrew Friedson, Will Jawando, Kristin Mink and Gabe Albornoz then headed for the microphone and invited several teachers along with MCEA President Jennifer Martin to appear with them.
After hearing from the most recent teacher of the year, Martin took the mic. Here is what she said.
*****
Good afternoon. Thank you, councilmembers, for honoring MCPS educators during Teacher Appreciation Week with this proclamation in recognition of the contributions educators across this county make each day.
I am accepting this recognition on behalf of the 14,000 educators of Montgomery County who struggle daily to meet the needs of our students and communities. On their behalf, I urge you to fully fund the MCPS budget so that we have the professional wages we deserve and the resources we need to lead students to success.
Long ago, my parents moved here, not in search of low taxes, but seeking an excellent education for their children and drawn by the libraries, parks, programs, and other important public services in which Montgomery County so wisely invests. A generation later, I returned to Montgomery County when it was time to start my own family, recognizing the value residents here place on education as a source of family and community strength. And, because our schools were so impressive, I later left my earlier profession and became an educator here. At that time, in the early 2000’s, my children’s teachers were touting how well they were treated and how appreciated they felt.
My how times change! Last night, I ran into a neighbor who has just left MCPS after 15 years of teaching. She was tearful as she described why she left the students she loved before the year had even ended. Every week, since the beginning of the year, she had to cover at least three other classes at her middle school because there were no substitutes. An art teacher, she did not receive some of her most important supplies and equipment until March. She witnessed and tried to support children who were traumatized and acting out, but sufficient administrative, mental health, and security support was not available. When a troubled student accidentally stabbed her, shocked, hurt and bleeding, she called for help, but no one responded.
Stories like hers unfortunately are not the exception these days in MCPS. The understaffing, growing needs of our student population must be addressed if we are to stem the tide of resignations. And we must make MCPS a destination employer and teacher an attractive profession again. Therefore, we urge you to fully fund the MCPS budget.
According to a recent study by the Economic Policy Institute, teachers face more than a twenty percent wage penalty when compared to other similar professions– even here in Montgomery County. While this is a national problem, because the majority of school funding comes from local sources, we urge you to fully fund the MCPS budget and address this gross inequity that is largely borne by women.
What is more, over the past twenty years, real wages for educators in MCPS have fallen by 15 to 17 percent. We urge you to fully fund the MCPS budget so we can attract and retain excellent educators and end the staffing crisis we currently face. The proposed MCPS budget will not end the teacher pay penalty, nor will it bring real wages to where we were in 2002, but it will at least move us forward in that effort. Without full funding, the three unions and MCPS may well be forced to renegotiate the wage agreements we have reached after so much hard work and careful consideration.
I am also accepting this recognition on behalf of our students, who deserve a world-class education. We urge you to fund the MCPS budget so they will have improved learning conditions like fully staffed classrooms, well-supported teachers, and updated facilities.
We know that powerful, moneyed voices are speaking up against the ten-cent property tax increase for our schools. We also know that four of you received $709,912 dollars (three quarters of a million dollars) in campaign contributions from those same anti-tax groups. Those donors are loud, but they are foolish. Montgomery County’s prosperity and livability have for generations been founded chiefly on the quality of our public schools.
We urge you to ignore the naysayers and fully fund the MCPS budget.
And students and teachers are not the only people who need you to fully fund our schools.
On behalf of our psychologists, counselors, social workers, nurses, and other special service providers, I urge you to fully fund the MCPS budget so that they have professional wages, safe ratios, and reasonable working hours so they can give critical care to our community.
In support of our school bus operators, I urge you to fully fund the MCPS budget so that they can have reliable schedules and fair wages to ensure that our students are safely transported to and from school each day.
In support of our administrators, I urge you to fully fund the MCPS budget because they deserve competitive wages and the opportunity to develop strong relationships with educators and the school district. They need access to the training that builds their ability to effectively lead their schools.
I am accepting this recognition today on behalf of our communities who reject false choices, and who know that you do not have to rob Peter to pay Paul. It is economic nonsense to say to us that a 10-cent property tax increase will leave children starving, but that double-digit rent increases are just the price of doing business.
MCEA members applaud Martin’s comments about rent increases.
I am accepting this recognition on behalf of the county employees, the students and teachers, and the working people who strengthen the fabric of Montgomery County.
I am accepting this recognition on behalf of our future, hopeful that this proclamation is not an empty gesture but is actually a promise from the council: a promise to invest today in our children, some of whom will be the teachers, nurses, school administrators, and elected leaders of tomorrow.
Now it is time to do what is right for all teachers, students, and communities. We urge you to fully funding the MCPS budget. Per pupil spending in Montgomery County is down almost $1500 adjusted for inflation since 2008. The only way to combat this trend is to make this meaningful investment now in our public schools.
Some of you have touted the thousands of votes you received in winning your seats. Well, thousands of those same voters want you to pass this revenue enhancement measure. And they sent you all a gift.
We educators are generous souls. Countless numbers of us go into our own pockets each year to buy bookbags and other supplies for our students. So, since you are giving us this recognition today, we have something for you, too. You will find a petition here with over 9,000 signatures. From Potomac to Poolesville, from to Silver Spring to Seneca Valley, from Garrett Park to Gaithersburg, from Bethesda to Burtonsville residents are speaking up, urging you to fully fund the MCPS budget. Support is deep and widespread.
MCEA members distribute petition signatures to the council while Martin speaks.
And now you will hear from educators who are sitting in an uncomfortable truth. You all continue to reveal by seeking to make cuts in the MCPS budget that you are not willing to do everything that is necessary for our kids, our communities, or our future.
*****
Martin then tried to turn the mic over to a teacher but Jawando took it back. MCEA members began to chant, “Let her speak!” Jawando gave the mic back to one teacher with the understanding that she would speak for just one minute. After she finished, the chanting resumed and the council ended the presentation. Council President Evan Glass banged the gavel and the council adjourned while the room was cleared.
A teacher speaks.
Council President Glass bangs the gavel.
The teachers have effectively annexed the council hearing room. Meeting adjourned!