Testimony Before the County Council on the MCPS FY99 Operating Budget
April 6, 1998
Good evening. I am Sharon Cox, President of the Montgomery County Council of Parent
Teacher Associations. I appreciate being able to speak to ensuring public school students'
educational opportunities through funding of the MCPS FY99 Operating Budget.
You may have the impression that we never met a budget we didn't like. But, we know that you and the Executive agree that Dr. Vance's reading, algebra, and overall class size initiatives are exactly the child-focused strategies we all have been demanding. There is no question that the Council, the Executive, the Board of Education, MCPS staff and the overwhelming majority of citizens, are all committed to educational excellence in Montgomery County. Where we may differ is on how to budget and find it.
As you well know, the public often misunderstands the split of budget and funding authority between the Board of Education and the Council. This is especially true during budget cycles in which staff contracts are negotiated. The Board is only constrained by the Spending Affordability Guidelines in having to create a list of "non-recommended" cuts - originally intended to be a prioritized list of what could be done to meet the guidelines.
The political reality is that the guidelines are so far from current revenue estimates, the Board uses the cut list to dramatize the draconian changes required to meet unrealistic guidelines. In the end, the public has no real information on potential changes if full funding is not available.
In years past our advocacy efforts centered on the educational priorities agreed on by representatives of our 53,000 members. Those priorities have not greatly changed over the years; class size is first. However, when contracts were last negotiated, the majority of Board members decided to raise class size. Our efforts were ineffective.
Three years later the whole county is painfully aware of the fall-out from that decision. The current budget is, in fact, a remedy. Yet, our delegates are so concerned about the potential for a repeat performance, they voted to encourage the council to fully fund the Board's budget request. Their focus in that advocacy remains on the categories that affect our priorities as follows:
Category 1 - Administration - Full funding ensures timely completion of the year 2000 project, maintaining the Student Information Management System, critical to record keeping and decisions on providing student services.
Category 2- Mid-level Administration - Full funding provides for development of new program initiatives in reading, language arts and mathematics to improve student achievement.
Category 3 - Instructional Salaries - Full funding maintains class size initiatives, our highest priority. It also ensures maintenance of the seven period day, or its equivalent, and staffing of instructional aides at the k-2 level, counselors in all schools, reading teachers in elementary and middle schools, and art, music and p.e. teachers in all schools.
Categories 4 & 5 - Textbooks and Instructional Supplies & Other Instructional Costs Full funding helps provide and maintain the instructional tools and resources that children must learn to use to be successful.
Category 6 - Special Education - Full funding ensures that our class size priority applies to all students.
Category 7 - Student Personnel Services - This category does not affect our currently articulated priorities. However, given recent concerns over student behavior and violence, I feel safe in saying that our members support adequate student services.
Category 9 - Student Transportation - While this category does not affect our budget priorities, related safety issues, including walking distances, were identified this year as concerns of our members.
Category 10 - Operation of Plant and Equipment - This category does not affect our operating budget priorities.
Category 11 - Maintenance of Plant - This category does not affect our operating budget priorities, but it does have a significant impact on capital and environmental safety issues of concern to our membership.
Category 12 - Fixed Charges - This category does not affect our budget priorities.
Category 14 - Community Services - This category does not affect our budget priorities, but we support the concept of community outreach for the purpose of improving student learning.
While we encourage you to fully fund the budget, we understand that having resources greater than anticipated is not the same thing as having unlimited resources. And yet, you have a critical responsibility to address our students' needs, and to do so unflinchingly. Students' needs are found in our priorities. If full funding is not feasible, we urge you to look for savings in the categories we have identified as not directly affecting students.
In working to meet the needs of all county residents, you have no greater obligation than providing the finds for quality education. It is a critical measure of the success of your leadership. Thank you for listening to our ideas on how you can best fulfill that obligation.