By Adam Pagnucco.
Below are the top ten stories on Montgomery Perspective in May 2023, ranked by page views.
1. MCEA Crashes Council Meeting, Demands Full Funding
2. MCEA: Council Votes to “Starve Our School System”
4. MCPS to Council: Let’s Kiss and Make Up
5. How Much Money is Under MCPS’s Couch Cushions?
6. School Impact Taxes Set to Skyrocket
7. Jawando Blasts Elrich Administration for Using “Cloak of Racial Equity”
8. These Counties Are Cutting Property Taxes and Spending More on Schools
9. School Board Plays Race, Sex Cards Against County Council
10 (tie). Tax Hike Number Two
10 (tie). They Rant and Rave and Then Vote Yes
When I first started writing, one of my earliest sources told me, “Education is Montgomery County’s religion.” This list proves him right. Almost every big story last month related wholly or partially to public schools. The schools are an eternal issue here. In virtually every election, they are at or near the top of the issue list for politicians and voters. If you have nothing to say about schools, don’t bother running for office in MoCo!
So what did we see last month?
First, the Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA) is absolutely the most powerful interest group in the county, just as their state affiliate is the most powerful interest group in Maryland. The fact that the council passed a substantial tax hike marketed for schools (even though it indirectly funded all of county government) that paid for the teachers’ new contract is a testament to their power. When MCEA gets rolling, no one can match them.
Second, there are three critical local players other than MCEA on the issue of school funding: MCPS leadership, the county executive and the county council, with the latter having ultimate funding authority subject to state law. Right now, it’s obvious that the council does not trust either the executive or MCPS leaders. Witness the fact that the council gave the superintendent $9.6 million more than she recommended in December and $245 million more than last year and still she is talking about a “fiscal cliff.” How can you give someone more money than they request and then have that person say that it’s not enough? This is a far cry from the cozy relationship twenty years ago between County Executive Doug Duncan, council education committee chair Mike Subin and Superintendent Jerry Weast that regularly produced big school budget increases. Expect a repeat of the doomsday rhetoric next year, especially since the budget already starts with a structural deficit.
Third, county leaders still don’t take the economy seriously. I posted a nine-part series showing that we trailed most of the region on six of seven top-line economic measures. The county reacted with three tax hikes when few other jurisdictions in the region were even considering them and three of our competitors cut taxes. They are now poised to institute rent control, a policy with a long history of wreaking havoc in housing markets.
The county badly needs to adopt a policy of “do no harm” to its economy to allow its residents and businesses to compete, make money and put people to work. If it does not, the hysterics of this year’s budget will become an annual ritual. That’s great for writers like me, but not so good for the people of Montgomery County.