An organized effort by the Education Association of Charles County (EACC) paid dividends at Tuesday night’s public hearing on the FY-2013 budget. During the public hearing, all 26 speakers spoke in favor of full education funding and nobody spoke out against increasing taxes.
The lack of opposition to tax increases came as a surprise to many and may pave the road for a one-cent increase in property tax rates in line with the Constant Yield. That could play out positively, not just for the teachers, but also for the sheriff’s deputies as well. Most of the people in the chamber were teachers, holding EACC prepared signs that read, “Do the Right Thing.”
“Tonight, we ask you to fully fund the school board’s budget request to maintain successful programs that promote student achievement and bring employees to their proper salary step,” Charles County Board of Education (CCBOE) Chairman Roberta Wise said. “We ask funding to be permanent as one-time increases do not allow us to properly fund salaries and programs. This is about choices.
“We use public resources but the community gets a whole lot in return, we help students become properly educated. We are balancing our 2013 budget on 2008 levels of income. Nearly 80 percent of our budget is spent on people. Imposing tax increases to maintain quality service is not an option for our superintendent but it is for you. CCPS is the largest employer in the county. Seventy-five percent of our employees live in Charles County where they shop and pay taxes.”
“We are doing everything possible to keep the school system functioning with what we have to work with,” Bill McLaughlin, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 2981, said. “We were told we were on the verge of having everything taken care of. We ask you to please support the BOE budget request so we can keep moving forward, not backwards.”
“Through my time in Charles County Public Schools (CCPS), I’ve had so many wonderful opportunities,” CCBOE Student Board Member Azeezat Adelene said. “I’ve seen myself grow in to a capable and well-grounded person. Our public education system causes this transformation. We are often told we are the future. I encourage you to support full funding of the board of education budget request.”
“I have 23 reasons to support CCBOE request,” William B. Wade Elementary School Teacher Cindy Hangarter said. “My students are worried about large class sizes and insufficient supplies. Sadly, the summer academies have been discontinued due to lack of funding. As an educator, I’ve accepted the challenge of preparing our children for the future. We do not want to c
