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Teachers, support staff and students press board for bigger raises as budget debate nears
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Summary
Dozens of teachers, education support professionals and students told the Board of Education they consider a proposed 1% salary pool insufficient, citing the rising cost of living, staffing shortages and teacher retention concerns; speakers urged the board to request additional county funds before finalizing the FY2027 budget.
Multiple teachers, education support professionals (ESPs) and students used the board's public-comment period on Feb. 17 to urge the Board of Education to seek larger pay increases and to address staffing shortages.
Kathy O'Reilly, an educational support professional and year-round organizer with the Maryland State Education Association, said WCPS employs 1,232 teachers and 1,126 educational support professionals who pay county taxes and that the district serves roughly 22,722 students. "When we talk about taxpayers, we are not talking about a separate group of people," she said, arguing that many taxpayers are also school employees and family members of students and that wage stagnation harms retention and classroom stability.
Several other speakers made similar points. Heather Puzes, a teacher at Easter Elementary School, said the proposed 1% salary resource pool for FY2027 is "not enough" and urged the board to increase the pool to address health care and energy cost increases and other inflationary pressures. "Does [1%] send the message that WCPS staff are valued, or does it send the message that we could easily be replaced?" she asked. Ricky Lauer, a teacher at Emma K. Daub Elementary School, cited national research on teacher attrition and the "teacher pay penalty" and said local veterans leave for higher-paying neighboring districts.
Students also addressed the board. Ben Loudenslager and Brian Lin supported a virtual-instruction contingency plan for extended bad weather that would satisfy Maryland's requirement for synchronous instruction and avoid extending the school year. Emily Agresto, a Boonesborough High School student, urged the board to prioritize HVAC repairs after reporting temperatures ranging from about 65 to 88 degrees in one classroom.
Board members acknowledged speakers' concerns and noted constraints partly driven by state-level funding changes (the —blueprint—). The board also heard an oppositional, sometimes combative public comment from Sean Porter that included allegations about local elected officials and references to legal representation; the board did not take substantive action on those personal allegations during the meeting.
The public-comment themes focused the board's attention on compensation, staffing and facilities as it considered adopting the superintendent's recommended FY2027 budget as the board's draft on the same agenda.
