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Teachers and school leaders urge council to keep tax rate to fund 3% COLA and full special-education hiring
Summary
Teachers, special-education staff and school officials urged the council to hold the property tax rate steady to generate roughly $9 million more in revenue, fund a 3% COLA and fill dozens of special-education positions the board said are needed.
Teachers, special-education staff and board officials urged the Anne Arundel County Council to provide additional funding for educators and support staff during the FY27 budget public hearing.
Matt Stansky, chief financial officer for the school system, told the council the county executive's proposal provides record funding to the schools citing roughly $72.8 million in increased direct support and funds a 2.25% cost-of-living adjustment plus a merit-step structure and about 26 special-education positions. Stansky said the school system appreciates the support and has additional unfunded requests that it would welcome if the council identifies more resources.
Educators and advocates asked for a higher COLA and more special-education staffing. Christina Corona, TAC president, said the board requested 82.2 special-education positions but the executive budget funded 26 and that about 32.4 positions are expected to be temporarily grant-funded; she argued those grants may not continue and that maintaining the current property tax rate (rather than reducing it under the cap) would generate an estimated $9 million to help fund staffing and a larger COLA.
Multiple teachers described rising costs of living and growing classroom and caseload pressures and asked the council to prioritize classroom support, counselors, and related positions. The public record on May 13 contained no council vote; councilmembers will consider the budget in the legislative process that follows the public hearing.
