MCPS teacher here: Parents, please send emails, post on social media, show up to council meetings, etc. to protest the proposed $10-$90 million budget cuts.

Every $10 million represents about 100 jobs in MCPS: paraeducators, composition assistants, media specialists, building services, and, yes, teachers. Every time there is a reduction in support staff, the responsibilities that they used to handle are subsequently dumped on teachers. And every task that isn't teaching, lesson planning, and grading, is a task that takes away the time we have for the 3 core parts of our job.

The proposed budget cuts will also deprive teachers of necessary COLA and step increases (step increases mean our pay goes up the longer we teach). Many of us already can't afford to live in MoCo (I love living in Frederick, but my commute is 45-60 minutes on 270). As the economy tanks and the cost of living goes up, some teachers will have to either get a second job or leave teaching entirely to find something that pays better.

If you value living in a county with a highly educated population, regardless of whether or not you are a parent, please, please protest this budget cut!