TESTIMONY BEFORE THE BOARD OF EDUCATION CONCERNING THE FY 2000 OPERATING BUDGET
January 13, 1999
President Felton, Superintendent Vance, and Members of the Board of Education:
On behalf of the Montgomery County Council of Parent-Teacher Associations, thank you for this opportunity to testify regarding the Superintendent's proposed FY 2000 operating budget for Montgomery County Public Schools.
In many ways, this budget is an outstanding valedictory message capping Doctor Vance's distinguished tenure at the helm of Montgomery County Public Schools. Under his leadership excellence has grown with the same swift pace as enrollment and diversity.
Especially praiseworthy in this request is the emphasis on hiring new teachers to address enrollment growth, accelerate the reading and algebra class size initiatives and continue to reduce classes over the maximum enrollment. For years, MCCPTA's chief priority has been reduced class size and increased attention to classroom instruction. This year our budget compact, attached to this testimony, recognizes another critical component of effective instruction and includes a new priority, staff training.
MCCPTA delegates, in ratifying our FY 2000 operating budget compact, questioned whether the Superintendent was indeed proposing enough of a class size reduction. Research confirms the links between smaller class sizes, trained staff, quality and availability of instructional materials, and student achievement. Funding these priorities results in the greatest educational value and more should be done than even what is proposed by the Superintendent. Now is the time when our economy, both nationally and locally, is vibrant, with a likely growth in county revenues of 4%. Now is the time to reverse the devaluation of classroom instruction begun when the Board voted to increase class size and made other cuts in program and staffing allocations.
We believe you have a golden opportunity to reduce class size, improve classroom instruction, dramatically increase ftmds for instructional aides at the elementary level, and improve staff development - while at the same time maintaining an overall budget that remains in size and scope something that will be taken seriously by the County Executive and the County Council.
These are exactly the investments that must be made while the economy is strong. They will pay dividends in student achievement for years to come. Widespread support for the class size initiatives introduced last year was based on their positive correlation to student achievement, and the ease ofjudging the success of the investment. Reading on grade level and passing algebra are definitive and measurable goals.
Again in this budget, credibility and accountability will be the keys to success in efforts to increase the percentage of the county budget allocated to MCPS, and reverse the trend toward devaluing classroom instruction. MCPS' share of the overall county operating budget belongs at least at 50%. Even when including debt service for school construction, the current figure is only 48%. County leadership and our citizens should be alarmed. That 2% translates into $20 million, or enough new teachers to reduce class size by nearly three children per class. Increasing that percentage now for programs and staffing that ensure improved academic performance will pave the way for consistent future funding. Our citizens are willing to pay for a quality school system and will want to guarantee that the quality continues even in the face of an economic downturn.
At present, the Superintendent's proposed budget for FY 2000 is roughly $30 million in excess of the County Council's spending affordability guidelines, and, coincidentally, about the same amount short of the state's maintenance of effort requirement. We know that figure does not yet include additional millions needed for compensation agreements still under negotiation.
Consequently, while MCCPTA strongly endorses the Superintendent's new initiatives, especially as they relate to staff hiring, training, and targeted class size reduction - and even as we urge that the Board of Education go even further in these critical areas - we do not recommend that the Board forward a proposed operating budget for FY 2000 that would, in the aggregate, exceed the Superintendent's proposed level beyond what is needed for negotiated increases.
MCCPTA urges the Board of Education to demand its fair share of county resources, but to do so in the form of a budget focused on programmatic improvements, one that is given deference, not derision, upon its arrival at Council Chambers.
Thank you.
Sharon Cox
President