Montgomery County subcommittee approves bill to tie school board pay to legislators

The Election, Education and Housing Subcommittee for Montgomery County voted unanimously to report favorably on MC 2 26, advancing Delegate Charcutian’s proposal to tie school board member pay to state legislator salaries.

Delegate Charcutian said the bill would link “school board member salary to legislator salary” and would attach future increases to a nonpolitical process so the issue would not require repeated legislative debate. He said the revised proposal increases pay less than an earlier version discussed last year.

The change drew support from members who framed the measure as an equity issue. “I think that this is an issue of equity,” Delegate Kaufman said, adding that she had been told some former school board members “could only do it because of the fact that they were married to wealthy men” and that board members can face financial strain while serving.

Chair moved the committee to report the bill favorably; the motion was seconded and a roll call produced only affirmative responses. The presiding officer announced a unanimous vote in favor and declared the bill passed.

Advocates said the measure would broaden access to board service by reducing the financial barriers of the current pay structure; opponents did not register a formal objection during the meeting. The committee did not set an implementation date during the session.

The subcommittee did not take additional amendments at the meeting and has not yet forwarded the bill to a full committee or council date in this transcript. The chair said the panel would continue work on other items and adjourned the meeting.