Budget testimony to the Board of Education

Montgomery County Board of Education
Public Hearing on the Proposed FY11 Operating Budget

January 12, 2011

Testimony of
Doug Prouty, MCEA President

Good evening President Barclay, members of the Board, and Dr. Weast. Thank you for this opportunity to testify on the Superintendent’s Recommended Operating Budget for Fiscal Year 2012. I am Doug Prouty, president of the Montgomery County Education Association which represents 12,000 teachers and other non-supervisory professional educators. I appreciate this opportunity to comment tonight. We are also deeply appreciative of the continuing commitment you have made to work together with us and other stakeholders to craft the best possible MCPS budget in this exceedingly difficult circumstance.

Dr. Weast asked in his introduction of the FY ’12 budget what a child’s education is worth. That is exactly the right question, especially when one considers that each of our students, and the students to come, do indeed get only one chance at that education. As you debate and finalize this budget and send it on to the County Executive and Council, keep in mind that question, as you always have in the past. Even were it not required by state law, sending forth a maintenance of effort budget is the right thing to do. It is your responsibility – your duty – to advocate for the needs of our students. A maintenance of effort budget simply maintains the current level of per-pupil spending. Recent hand wringing about this law notwithstanding, our children deserve this most modest of efforts.

We realize that there will be cuts to all agencies in Montgomery County when the budget process concludes in May. Our efforts together last year resulted in an outcome that was, while far from ideal, better than what might have been. A similar, perhaps even more Herculean, effort will be needed this year. You will hear tonight and next week from teachers, parents, students, other MCPS employees, and community members about specific programs that deserve to avoid paring or elimination. The problem is that, at the end of the day, most if not all of them are right. What we have should be enhanced. What a sad thing that instead we will have to decide on what cannot even be maintained. And in this year of increased class sizes and decreased levels of support for schools, our employees have given 110% to maintain quality. They have sacrificed not only money but also time to ensure that students get the best education. But we cannot assume it is reasonable, or even feasible, to continue to ask more to be done with fewer resources.

The Board of Education, the Superintendent, the employees, and the community have worked together to create a model school system. Indeed, we have entertained visitors from a wide range of states and countries who want to know about our work as a means of improving their own. Further proof of the fruits of our collaboration came last week. I meet and communicate with the other local presidents in Maryland frequently. An email was sent by one president asking if the rest had received an invitation from the U.S. Secretary of Education to attend a conference next month to learn about the experience of ten districts from around the country which had improved student achievement through labor-management collaboration. I tried to be humble in replying that yes, Montgomery County had been invited- in fact, we were selected to be one of the ten to share our story.

But collaboration itself has not resulted in the progress we have made. Rather, it is the focus on the people in MCPS that is to be credited. Education is about people. This seems obvious, given that what we do is help the young prepare to be the people who will shape our country next. But too often these days it is the people in public education who are accused of being the problem. We have recognized that, much as education is the best and most sound investment we as a community can make, investing in our workforce is the best investment we can make. Even in flush times, something as complex and controversial as the Teacher Professional Growth System is difficult to undertake. And yet we have managed to keep this system in place, not as robustly as we could were revenues not as poor as they have been, but nonetheless still going strong. I believe there is a direct link between our ongoing commitment to enhancing the skills of our workforce and our ability to improve student success and close the achievement gap.

We have a Professional Growth System and Professional Learning Communities that discuss the role that race plays in student achievement in a frank and honest way that others shy away from because it is so hard.

These are the kind of investments in the skills of the workforce that make the most difference for kids.

And so I conclude by commending you for all you have done, all that we have done together. And I implore you, each of you and as a body, to continue to work with MCAAP, SEIU Local 500, our PTAs, and MCEA, to advocate for our students.

The challenges we will face over the next several months to minimize the damage to the MCPS budget are worth it because a child’s education is worth it, because all of our students are worth it. Time will tell which of them becomes a NIH researcher, which becomes a Pulitzer prize winning journalist, which becomes a second grade teacher helping the next generation- I could go on- but they have to have the chance. They depend on us to ensure that chance.

Thank you for your time, hard work, and commitment to this most worthy of endeavors.