The MCPS Budget

Over 2 Billion dollars. Montgomery County residents are spending over two billion dollars a year on our public schools.

Everyone says they want more money for our schools, but the current economic realities are that there will be no more large increases like there were in past years. These are tough financial times in state and local government, and relief is not just around the corner. In the past, MCPS always threw more and more money at problems, but this solution is no longer available. We need to spend SMARTER. The incumbent school board knew that Mongtomery County faced a billion dollar budget deficit, and their solution? To sue the citizens of Montgomery County: a shakedown of our citizens for more money to spend on a bloated bureaucracy, robbing ordinary citizens of money desperately needed for other county services. The incumbents refused to do the hard work of carefully examining expenditures, and instead voted unanimously to take the easy way out and sue the citizens. I’ll do the hard work on your behalf, and insist that MCPS be more responsible with your tax dollars.

To that end, I also pledge to bring forth a topic at the Board table that has been swept under the rug by the incumbents: the crushing, and ever increasing, cost of employee benefits. Today, more than one in every five dollars spent by MCPS goes to pay for employee benefits. There is room to save money while at the same time ensuring a healthy workforce.

In addition, no sitting Board member has ever questioned the necessity of the 1,400 American Express Purchasing Cards held by MCPS employees, or demanded answers as to why these credit cards are being used to throw office parties and luncheons for administrators. Why are tax dollars are paying for meals at expensive restaurants like Addie's and Il Pizzico for central office personnel? Wasteful spending by MCPS is the FIRST place cuts should be made, and the current Board members haven't done the work to root it out, and stop it.

Teachers spend too much of their own money on classroom supplies. We owe them an appropriately stocked classroom, with the tools their students need. We don't owe the Executive Leadership Team catered lunches once a month. If we "spend smarter," we'll have the money for things we really need for our schools.