Commentary: Don’t balance Prince George’s County’s budget on the backs of our kids

The following commentary has been signed by dozens of parents of Prince George’s County Public Schools students, whose names appear below.

For decades, Prince George’s County taxpayers have prioritized children by setting aside revenues to supplement state and county contributions to Prince George’s County Public Schools, including overwhelming support for a casino revenue lockbox for education.

Now, two last-minute bills — HB 396 and HB 398 — would ignore the will of Prince Georgians and redirect other revenue currently locked for education, putting more than $60 million in critical funding for PGCPS at risk. Instead of unlocking our students’ potential, politicians want to unlock the funding they need to succeed.

PGCPS students got a brief reprieve when the Prince George’s County House Delegation held both bills at its Feb. 9 meeting. In the days prior, we spoke with a growing number of legislators who shared our concern and expressed their opposition. And the more fellow parents become aware of these bills, the more outraged they become. We urge the delegation to make this hold permanent, rip up both bills, and not make a decades-long underfunding crisis even worse.

This mindset of kicking tough choices down the road — and taking from PGCPS hoping no one will notice — is not new. It’s exactly how we got into our current underfunded mess of emergency school building closures and resource shortages in the first place. Both bills are full of misleading smoke and mirrors language, but their impact is clear: politicians want to take from our already underfunded schools and balance the budget on the backs of our kids.

County Executive Angela Alsobrooks and others should know better. It was Alsobrooks, in 2018, who named widely respected education leader Dr. Alvin Thornton to serve as Board of Education chair. Twenty years before the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, Thornton laid the foundation by leading a groundbreaking statewide commission on equitable school funding. The Thornton Commission was making progress until the Great Recession of 2007-2009, when politicians made massive cuts that have impacted us ever since. We cannot afford the same mistake and reversal of progress again.

In appointing Dr. Thornton, Alsobrooks said, “At a time when we are getting ready to go to Annapolis to seek the necessary funding we need to support a school system that educates students who face numerous challenges outside the classroom, his expertise will help to make certain that we receive every dollar that our children deserve.”

Those words ring true today, as current parents continue to see the everyday impacts of underfunding. Some examples: schools being forced to choose between hiring a resource teacher for math or for reading. Limited funding for Special Education teacher aides. Dilapidated buildings with exposed mold, asbestos, and sewage leaking into classrooms due to an $8.5 billion maintenance and construction backlog.

We greatly appreciate the funding Annapolis has invested in PGCPS, including critical money for much-need school construction and implementation of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future. The Blueprint is living up to its promise to equitably fund a world class education system with universal all-day PreK for 4-year-olds, college and career readiness standards, expanded career technical education programs, and funds to pay our educators professional salaries. Each new Blueprint dollar means new expenses for those programs. It does not create a piggybank to relieve local politicians of their own responsibility to fully fund other expenses in our schools.

We acknowledge Prince George’s County and the state both face deficits, but budgets are statements of priorities — and properly investing in education is non-negotiable. “Fully funded” can no longer mean simply matching the inadequate budgets of years past. It must mean finally giving our students and schools the resources they need to succeed.

This investment in our students is well worth it. PGCPS is making some of the most significant progress in Maryland. From academic achievement to climate change action to innovative school construction, PGCPS is an education leader making all this progress despite being chronically underfunded. Imagine what we could do with the proper resources our students deserve.

We stand with the Prince George’s County Board of Education and thank them for working together to fight for our children on this issue. We invite other parents to join us and unequivocally say: no cuts to education.

And we strongly urge County Executive Alsobrooks and state legislators to pull these badly flawed bills, start over, and work to identify other sources of revenue. Our schools are already underfunded, and balancing the budget on the backs of our kids is a non-starter.

Delores Millhouse, Vice President, Kettering Middle School PTSA, Chair of PGCPS Parent and Community Advisory Council

Lauren Vulanovic, President, Hyattsville Elementary School PTA

Timothy Meyer, President, Mount Rainier Elementary PTO

Kameka Harris, President, Thomas S. Stone Elementary PTO

Magalie Salas, PGCPS grandparent and schools advocate

Peter Daniels, Strong Schools for MD Advocate & PGCPS parent

Jessica Daniels, PGCPS parent

Laura Pillsbury, Co-Vice President, Hyattsville Elementary School PTA

Emily Robbins, Co-Vice President, Hyattsville Elementary School PTA

Molly MacLaren, PGCPS parent and former President, University Park Elementary School PTA

Sarah Christopherson, PGCPS parent and former Thomas S. Stone Elementary PTO President and former Hyattsville Middle School PTSO President

Daniel Broder, PGCPS Advocate

Christine Blackerby, PGCPS parent

Debbie Van Camp, PGCPS parent and former Vice President, Hyattsville Elementary School PTA

Kate Wunderlich, PGCPS parent

Joseph Jakuta, PGCPS parent

Theresa Smith, Vice Chair of PGCPS Parent and Community Advisory Council

Rachell Cain, PGCPS parent

Aimee Olivo, PGCPS parent and former Gladys Noon Spellman PTA President

Nicole de la Torre, Co-Secretary, Mount Rainier Elementary PTO

Lee Hicks, Co-Secretary, Mount Rainier Elementary PTO

Christy Regenhardt, PGCPS parent

Kristen Wares, PGCPS parent and former Vice President, Hyattsville Elementary School PTA

Matthew Gembecki, PGCPS parent

Carter Ross, PGCPS parent and recording secretary of the PGCPS Parent and Community Advisory Council

Marianella Youhouse, PGCPS parent and former Secretary, Hyattsville Elementary School PTA

Dr. Emerson LaJoie, PGCPS parent

Matt Weber, PGCPS parent

Rajni Sood Laurent, PGCPS parent and former Vice President, Mount Rainier Elementary PTO

Danny Laurent, PGCPS parent

Christine Becraft, PGCPS parent

Rebecca Lee, PGCPS parent

Nate Groenendyk, PGCPS parent

Ted Baker, PGCPS parent

Kelly Clendenin, PGCPS teacher and PGCPS parent

Amy Mulbach, PGCPS parent

Bob Lamb, PGCPS parent

Catarina Correia, PGCPS parent and former President, Hyattsville Middle School PTSO

Heather Creek, PGCPS parent

Christine Soto, PGCPS parent

Emilie Dworkin, PGCPS parent

Jake Dworkin, PGCPS parent

Kat Schooley, PGCPS parent and former Treasurer, Hyattsville Elementary School PTA

Kristina Adams, PGCPS parent and former Secretary, Mount Rainier Elementary PTO

Sarah Weber, PGCPS parent

Allison Lince-Bentley, PGCPS parent and former Secretary, Mount Rainier Elementary PTO

Nat Washington, PGCPS parent

Nicole Clem, PGCPS parent and former Secretary, Mount Rainier Elementary PTO

 

 

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