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Parents, teachers and students urge Montgomery County Council to fully fund MCPS budget; paraeducators, restorative justice and special education top requests
Summary
At a county budget public hearing, dozens of Montgomery County Public Schools educators, unions, students and parents urged the County Council to fully fund the Board of Education’s FY26 operating budget, citing staffing shortages, special-education needs, paraeducator reclassification, and cuts to restorative justice positions.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. — Dozens of teachers, union leaders, students and principals told the Montgomery County Council on April 8 that the Board of Education’s FY26 operating budget needs full funding to preserve services for special education students, bilingual and emergent multilingual learners, and school-based supports.
Speakers said understaffing has left classrooms, special education programs and support services strained. “This budget begins to mend that problem by adding crucial positions,” David Stein, president of the Montgomery County Education Association, said, urging the council to approve the board’s request.
The request matters, advocates said, because staffing shortfalls affect daily operations and legally required services. Several paraeducators described work that includes toileting, feeding and de-escalation in…
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