By Adam Pagnucco.
On the same day that County Executive Marc Elrich released his FY25 recommended operating budget, the Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA) blasted what it called its “punishing austerity.” Now it’s clear that the union does not merely plan to put out press statements. It plans to fight for more money.
MCPS has received large operating budget increases in the last two years, including their biggest in at least two decades last year. However, the school system has received less generous budgets in many years prior to that as MoCo has lagged all other large Maryland jurisdictions in increases in total school operating budget, total operating budget per pupil, county appropriation to schools and county appropriation per pupil since FY17. Furthermore, the union has also repeatedly pointed out that real dollar per pupil spending is below what it was before the Great Recession. So in MCEA’s view, the county has work to do on MCPS’s budget.
This week, the union asked its members to attend a rally at a county council budget hearing on April 9. The union wrote:
Bring your ungraded papers, two colleagues, and wear red for ed on Tuesday April 9, 2024, as we demand the county council pass a budget that fully funds our schools.
A fully funded budget is CRITICAL to MCPS being able to fulfill their obligation to honor our negotiated agreement. Without a fully funded MCPS budget, we risk losing our negotiated pay increases and changes to our benefits.
More details and RSVP at https://bit.ly/Budgethearing24
In the meantime, be sure to send your letter to county council by clicking here to demand the county council fully fund our schools!
Note that the above link shows the logos of all three MCPS unions, suggesting a united front in the fight for more money.
Thankfully, the absence of a tax hike did not result in the absence of budget drama!
MCEA’s flyer is reprinted below.
