I strongly urge a full restoration of the MCPS budget for the 2024-2025 academic year.  Although the originally proposed $55.7 million cut was reduced to $6.2 million, I beseech the Board of Education not to consider this enormous impediment to children’s education.  

I am aware that the cost of staff professional development teachers (“SPDT”) is the area highlighted for the reduction of $6.2 million.  I wholeheartedly disagree, because SPDT is crucial to maintaining staff equipped to provide the best and necessary educational experience.

 All teachers at every school level are needed for our children to be successful in school!  SPDT are paramount to children’s education. The quality of education and positive social-emotional experience in academia would unequivocally be impossible without the support of SPDT.  Thus, please restore the SPDT budget and find other budgetary areas to cut that will not directly encumber MCPS students.

Furthermore, this $6.2 million reduction will hinder our teachers from realizing their classroom goals.  The result will negatively impact all MCPS students.  Our children will not receive the public education promised by MCPS.   

Please fully restore the MCPS requested budget, because cutting these positions will decrease the efficacy of Montgomery County’s public education.