Meeting is TONIGHT November 3, 2025

Montgomery county residents who have or don't have kids in the Montgomery County Public Schools: see below. Attend, comment, question TONIGHT!

MCPS Educators, Parents and Students Community Conversation.
Monday, Nov. 3. 7-8:30 p.m.
Carver Educational Services Center, Auditorium, 850 Hungerford Drive, Rockville

https://www2.montgomeryco...m_ID=47494

Elrich is seeking feedback for how taxpayer money should be spent for FY27.

This is a good opportunity to let Council know that MCPS funding should not be increased. This way it will be harder for MCPS to implement the inequitable regional model should it get passed.

From the press release:

The County is in the early stages of formulating the FY27 operating budget. County Executive Elrich is required to submit a recommended budget to the County Council by Monday, March 16, 2026. The Council will then have two months to review the budget. It must adopt a final budget no later than June 1. The FY27 operating budget will go into effect on July 1.

“I urge every resident to participate in these discussions; your feedback shapes our future,” said County Executive Marc Elrich. “We host these community conversations to garner input and feedback on how tax dollars are spent. We gain valuable insights from these conversations that help guide our decisions and priorities for the upcoming fiscal year. The budget reflects our community’s goals and values. With one forum in each of the five regions of the County, along with conversations conducted in multiple languages, there are multiple opportunities to participate and be heard.”

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how many families are currently supporting MCPS through their taxes and also paying for private schools for their own kids. I am one of them, and I am ok with that because we need good public schools, but I feel like the number has increased over the last few years. They are doing less with more.

I one who is not. We should receive a refund for our contribution to these garbage schools. Instead their performance keeps dropping and they keep coming back begging for more. Pathetic.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Turns out that educating the kids of tens of thousands of illegal immigrants is incredibly expensive. Just wait until that population moves through the pipeline to a free education at UMD.

Oh, how terrible, immigrant kids going to college.

Well, enjoy your upcoming tax increase and fewer number of college seats for Maryland residents.

Anonymous wrote:Turns out that educating the kids of tens of thousands of illegal immigrants is incredibly expensive. Just wait until that population moves through the pipeline to a free education at UMD.

Oh, how terrible, immigrant kids going to college.

It makes of 80% of their budget What are you talking about

Anonymous wrote:How much could be saved if the admin and overhead non-classroom HQ staff were cut in half?

Look at the budget. By far the biggest expenses are teacher salaries and benefits. That's generally where the vast majority of budget increases go, too, although this proposed budget has large increases in special education staff and moderately large increases to elementary admin staff.

There's a limit to what you can save from central admin positions. And as much as you wish it wasn't the case, a large bureaucracy governed by a variety of state, local, and federal laws is going to have a significant administrative burden. Removing positions at central would push more things down on school staff.

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how many families are currently supporting MCPS through their taxes and also paying for private schools for their own kids. I am one of them, and I am ok with that because we need good public schools, but I feel like the number has increased over the last few years. They are doing less with more.

Yes, that number rose dramatically when MCPS closed for 18 months. And I think it is very rational to worry about the impact that will have on public policy. MCEA was short-sighted in refusing to allow MCPs to reopen.

I wonder how many families are currently supporting MCPS through their taxes and also paying for private schools for their own kids. I am one of them, and I am ok with that because we need good public schools, but I feel like the number has increased over the last few years. They are doing less with more.

I could cut that budget 20% but I won't say here what I would do.

Anonymous wrote:How much could be saved if the admin and overhead non-classroom HQ staff were cut in half?

I think there is some waste there, but there is probably a lot more waste in the contracting, particularly consultants, IT/Tech, etc.

How much could be saved if the admin and overhead non-classroom HQ staff were cut in half?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Personnel costs are the largest part of the school budget with MCPS filling its teacher staffing vacancies with older, more experienced teachers who receive a higher salary than beginning teachers. Students whose first language is not English, and problems related to the pandemic have caused MCPS to hire more personnel.

Personnel costs for full time employees was $95,716 in Fiscal Year 2015, $105,297 in Fiscal Year 2020 and $121,008 this year.

Other increasing budget lines include insurance and pension costs.

Total expenditures per student grew

It seems that illegal migration is costing a lot more than people realize.

Legal immigrants have language barriers, too.

Anonymous wrote:Personnel costs are the largest part of the school budget with MCPS filling its teacher staffing vacancies with older, more experienced teachers who receive a higher salary than beginning teachers. Students whose first language is not English, and problems related to the pandemic have caused MCPS to hire more personnel.

Personnel costs for full time employees was $95,716 in Fiscal Year 2015, $105,297 in Fiscal Year 2020 and $121,008 this year.

Other increasing budget lines include insurance and pension costs.

Total expenditures per student grew

It seems that illegal migration is costing a lot more than people realize.