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Educators, principals and unions urge Montgomery County Council to fully fund MCPS budget
Summary
Educators, principals and unions told the County Council at a public hearing that proposed cuts to the FY27 operating budget would damage special education, class-size goals, safety staffing and negotiated wage increases, and urged restoring or increasing funding.
Dozens of educators, school leaders and union representatives urged the Montgomery County Council to fully fund the Montgomery County Public Schools FY27 operating budget at a March public hearing.
"This budget is not about extras. It's about essentials," David Stein, president of the Montgomery County Education Association, told the council. He said proposed scenarios presented by staff would move the school system backward, citing a "catastrophic cut of $222,000,000." Stein said failing to fund special education services, mental-health supports and negotiated wage increases would hurt recruitment and student outcomes.
Dr. Christine Handy, president of MCAP, the association representing school administrators, outlined specific investments in the superintendent's recommended budget she called essential: a $12,000,000 investment to place a special-education resource teacher in elementary schools, a $35,000,000 allocation to support staffing-allocation standards and class-size reduction, addition of 28 elementary security staff and a $140,000,000 compensation package that includes a 3.25% base-salary increase.
"Any reduction in compensation is not savings. It violates agreements made in good faith," Handy said.
Principals and educators also described classroom impacts. Dr. Carla McNeil, principal of Holly Wells Middle School, said prior investments produced gains on the Maryland State report card and that the resource-teacher role is the "glue for the special education department." Darley Satterwhite, chair of the MCEA special education collaboration committee, said chronic underfunding has produced turnover and a reliance on underprepared substitutes.
Parents and community members pressed for restoration of targeted programs. Alicia Wolf and Lauren Brown testified that Stedwick Elementary, a Title I community school, lacks the Excel Beyond the Bell after-school program enjoyed by nearby clusters; Brown called the absence "an equity gap." Several witnesses tied after-school access to parents' ability to work full shifts and to middle-school students' uninterrupted participation in their own activities.
Union and staff representatives urged the council to honor collectively bargained wage adjustments and resist balancing the budget by cutting frontline positions. Carlene Brett Pruitt, executive vice president of SEIU Local 500, called family-engagement specialists and other support staff "critical" and warned that cuts would sever trust and reduce services for vulnerable families.
The hearing produced no vote; council members will consider budget amendments and committee work sessions scheduled through April.
