MCCPTA to Host Schools Operating Budget Forum

The Montogmery County Council of PTAs hosts a forum on the fiscal 2013 operating budget for Montogmery County Public Schools at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Richard Montgomery High School.

The and now goes to the Montgomery County Council.

Eight County Council members—all but one—and six school board members have committed to be at the forum, Jean Schlesinger, MCCPTA's Operating Budget Committee chairwoman, wrote in an email to PTA members.

A flier promoting the forum outlines concerns for PTAs: "After $400 million plus in budget cuts over recent years, and in the face of continued increases in enrollment, poverty and ESOL needs, there are very
important issues at stake for our schools," the flier says. "The Governor's proposal to shift a portion of the teacher pension funding obligation from the State to the counties, and the efforts to close loopholes in the Maintenance of Effort Law and obtain a waiver for the $26 million penalty facing our schools will be front and center during this budget cycle."

Schlesinger's email delves further into the numbers. "Numbers do matter," she wrote. Among them:

• $1,500—The decrease in local per pupil funding since fiscal 2009.
• $26 million—The maintenance of effort penalty to be imposed by the state on MCPS for failing to fund schools at the same per-student rate in fiscal 2012 as the previous year. The county has applied for a waiver, but could face another $13 million penalty if it fails to meet MOE for fiscal 2013.
• 9,000—The number of additional students enrolled in MCPS since 2007—the same number by which MCPS enrollment is projected to grow in the next five years.
• 47,365—The number of students who qualify for free and reduced-price meals, the highest number of students living at or near the poverty line in the school system's history and more than the entire population of D.C. Public Schools.
• 22.5—The percent of elementary school students systemwide who require English for Speakers of Other Languages services.
• 2—The percent increase in schools funding proposed by Superintendent Joshua P. Starr for fiscal 2013, the smallest percentage increase requested in 12 years.
• 900—The number of people it takes to fill the Richard Montgomery High School auditorium.
• 1—Maryland's national ranking, by Education Week magazine, led by MCPS, "AND THE NUMBER IT TAKES TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE," Schlesinger wrote.