MCEA and SEIU Local 500 say their members are “deeply concerned regarding the Montgomery County Public Schools FY2025 budget” in a statement released today in response to the County Council taking straw votes to unanimously approve the County’s $7.1 billion Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Operating Budget and the $5.84 billion FY25-30 Capital Improvements Program (CIP). The full statement can be seen below:
“MCEA and SEIU Local 500 members are deeply concerned regarding the Montgomery County Public Schools FY2025 budget. First, in February, MCPS put forward a budget proposal that did not request enough resources for the school system. Next, County Executive Marc Elrich put forward a budget proposal in March that cut over $50 million from the already bare-bones MCPS budget.
Today, in a straw vote, the Montgomery County Council indicated that they would add back $26.3 million that the County Executive had cut from the MCPS Board of Education’s FY2025 budget request.
On the one hand, the cuts won’t be as severe as they would have been under Marc Elrich’s proposal. Unfortunately, today’s decision by the County Council still leaves the school system approximately $30 million under what is necessary to maintain current services. It’s dismaying to see that painful cuts to programs and positions will now be unavoidable in the coming year.
MCEA and SEIU Local 500 appreciate the efforts of the council members who attempted to fund the schools Montgomery County families deserve.
In remarks today, Councilmember Will Jawando stated, “I must express my deep concern with this level of funding for the MCPS budget which will be borne by a majority female workforce who again is being asked to do more with less.” He went on to say, “We must openly acknowledge that the population MCPS serves has fundamentally changed. Forty-five percent of our students now qualify for Free and Reduced-price Meals Service (FARMS), we have a growing need for special education services, and a 44% increase in students with Section 504 plans. We have a deep need, and this budget will not meet the need.”
Councilmember Natali Fani-Gonzales criticized the cuts, saying, “It really hurts to see kids who are really vulnerable not getting what they need to succeed.” Councilmember Kristin Mink also reflected on the impact of the cuts. She stated, “There is no way to prevent it from hurting.” Commenting on the role MCPS plays in the broader community, she shared, “Good schools are fundamental to all our other goals as a county.”
Funding a world-class education system was once a badge of pride for Montgomery County. But the budget process is broken, and the County Council and the Board of Education no longer work together to ensure that every child has what they need for academic success.
“As we recover from this unacceptable blow, we must now pivot our attention to MCPS’s next steps in the budget process. Any resulting cuts the Board of Education is forced to make should come from the top, not from our classrooms. Our students must have reasonable class sizes and access to the supports that will enable them to meet learning goals,” said MCEA President Jennifer Martin. “MCEA members remain committed to ensuring the social-emotional wellbeing of every student, and to helping each one meet their full potential.”
SEIU Local 500 President Pia Morrison stated, “We know that failing to fully fund the school system will only hurt our students and those who dedicate their lives each day to serving their needs. Next year students may find reduced services or even non-existent ones where once they had support. When we hear elected officials say they had tough choices in their budget deliberations, the difficulty they faced pales in comparison with the choices students and their families must make when met with increasing class sizes, understaffed classrooms, and economic hardships. Our education support staff at SEIU Local 500 will rise to the challenge to continue to support our students in these times.
We all saw during this week’s primary election that educators are trusted messengers when it comes to identifying who can best lead the school system. We will continue to hold elected officials accountable and inform the community who in county leadership is trying to improve the schools and who is willing to underfund them.”
MCEA represents more than 14,000 classroom teachers, school counselors, speech pathologists, media specialists and other educators in the Montgomery County Public Schools system; MCEA is one of the largest local affiliates of the National Education Association (NEA) and is a leader in building a new kind of educators’ union that responds to the needs of today’s educators and students. For more information, visit www.mceanea.org.