Below is a transcript of MCEA President Doug Prouty's testimony before the Montgomery County Council, during this evenings public hearing on the Proposed FY14 Operating Budget.
Good evening Council President Navarro , Vice-President Rice, and members of the County Council. I
testify tonight on behalf of the 12,000 professional educators whose dedication to our students have helped
make the Montgomery County Public Schools one of the best school districts in America. We support the
MCPS budget as submitted to you by the County Executive.
In my role as president, I have the opportunity to speak with districts and unions from around the state and
country. What I find is that MCPS leads the nation in so many areas of education, and while we aren’t
perfect, the focus on student learning and achievement is exemplary. People who choose to work in MCPS
expect great things of our kids and of ourselves, and we believe we can bend the arc of history in the lives of
children and families. As MLK said, “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to
think critically”- we seek to do just that.
This budget is a modest request in the context that we face currently. Full funding of this budget, in the
manner that the Executive has designed, constitutes only a 2.8% increase in the tax supported budget for
MCPS. I recognize that there are some who believe MCPS had been receiving significantly larger increases
than other county agencies before the recent recession. However, the County Council’s own report proves
otherwise. The October 16, 2012 Report from the Council’s Office of Legislative Oversight documented
the “Annual Change in County Aggregate Operating Budgets by Agency, from FY03 to FY13” (Table 4-4).
According to the OLO Report, the average annual increase in the MCPS budget over the past decade was
4.9%, equal to the average increase in the Montgomery County Government budget. I would ask you to
help refute the mistaken impression that the MCPS budget is taking up a larger and larger share of the
County’s overall budget; it is simply not true.
Included in the proposed FY14 MCPS budget is the restoration or addition of positions that target the
achievement gap and will provide additional resources to schools. These include thirty focus teacher
positions in middle schools to support students who need it in Math and Reading, thirteen counselors and
other support positions in small elementary schools, five new psychologist positions, five additional
instrumental music teachers, and ten elementary Math positions to ensure more differentiation for students.
This budget also provides for expansion of the International Baccalaureate Middle Years program to King
and Clemente middle schools, two diverse schools in terms of both race and socio-economic status. We are
focused on providing the best education to every student in MCPS and on closing the gap.
One program of which you may not be aware is a graduate certificate program which started in 2010. This
program was initiated by MCEA in partnership with MCPS and McDaniel College, and grants a graduate
certificate in Equity and Excellence in Education. The first cohort of this program completed their
certificates in December, 2012 and the next cohort is already working. The twenty three teachers in the
first cohort dubbed themselves ‘Equity Warriors’ and are focused on spreading their knowledge of
equitable teaching practices and cultural awareness to their colleagues. Our goal is, in the next five years, to
have trained hundreds of educators throughout the system on how better to meet the needs of our
increasingly diverse and economically disadvantaged students. MCEA is proud to have led this initiative to
help close the achievement gap by building the skills of the teaching workforce.
This commitment to all students is shared by MCEA members as well as those of SEIU Local 500 and
MCAAP. You have shown your commitment to these students by providing budget increases to MCPS. We
know that the recent recession forced cuts to every agency of Montgomery County Government and this
included MCPS. Local per pupil spending is now approximately $1400 less than it was in 2009, prior to the
recession. We expect to grow by another 10,000 students in the next five years and our new students will
increase our diversity of every sort- racial, socio-economic, ESOL, and Special Education.
We share your commitment to improve staffing in critical areas and lower class sizes. However, it is simply
unrealistic to expect MCPS to continue to provide a high quality education to all students and to continue
our work to meet the needs of our struggling students with a stagnant per pupil allocation. Our costs do not
remain stagnant and neither do our students’ needs.
Freezing local per pupil spending below 2009 levels - by limiting the MCPS budget to the Maintenance of
Effort level in perpetuity - is a recipe for disaster. Just as you recognize the need of our citizens for
improved services by police, fire fighters, and in our parks and libraries, you must also recognize the need
for improved services for our students.
The $1,400 cut in local per-pupil spending means that the MCPS budget has been “scrubbed”: tens of
millions of dollars in administrative and operational costs have been saved. There are simply no substantial
additional savings to be found. We have already had to increase class sizes and cut staffing in critical areas to
absorb the cut in local per-pupil spending. We did what had to be done to help the County get through the
recent recession and thankfully, this budget begins to restore certain high priority staffing and program
needs. But it is wishful thinking to suggest that we can close the achievement gap without an increased
investment. Let’s move past the dislike for the MOE legislation passed last year - and the dislike for the
rebasing of the MCPS budget the year before - and work together again for the quality of life of our students
and all Montgomery County residents.
