Schools lament Leopold's budget

By ELISABETH HULETTE and ERIN COX Staff Writers

Published 05/02/08

Reeling from news that his budget from the county is $51 million short, schools Superintendent Kevin M. Maxwell yesterday accused County Executive John R. Leopold of breaking his promise to fund a contract with the local teachers' union.

"Mr. Leopold said that he was going to fully fund the TAAAC agreement, and he has not," Dr. Maxwell said at a news conference yesterday, referring to the deal with the Teachers Association of Anne Arundel County. "He has not held up the contractual agreements. He didn't hold up his end in the budget, so I will have to do that. I believe we have a moral obligation to do so."...

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It's amazing - May 7, 2008

The Dems run on education and illegally raise taxes by $7B, thats billion with a B. Not a cent goes to our schools. Our schools are slashing their budgets after the party the teachers union elected already took their last dollar.

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Peter D. - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Terrible

Mr. Maxwell's Budget - May 6, 2008

Can Mr. Maxwell name one thing he's done to improve relations with the Council or Executive to work on long term relations and solutions for the school board? Of course not! He'd rather be antagonistic and pull cheap PR stunts than demonstrate leadership. As the watermen say, a fish rots from the head, and so does our school system.

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C. Doherty - Harwood, MD - Karma: Neutral

BOE - May 6, 2008

I agree that someone needs to look into how much is being spent on the BOE administration, who are they and what are they doing?? Money has been given for those past promised raises, but BOE spent in on other things, oh and by the way, Maxwell makes over $250,000, Leopold make under $150,000.00

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Debbie F. - Arnold, MD - Karma: Bad

Fiscal Responsibility - May 5, 2008

Before you lay all the blame on our elected County Executive, Mr. Leopold, perhaps you need to take a closer look in the unelected Dr. Maxwell's building. When the list of AACPS employees making more than $100,000 per year came out, I didn't see a single teacher on it. I did see at least 73 "Coordinator of..." "Director of..." "Assistant Director of...", all sitting at or near 2644 Riva Road. Can you appreciate the burearacracy? Why does Dr. Maxwell need a press secretary that makes more than $100,000 per year? We don't need a Mercedes to get to work and get the job done. We need a dependable vehicle that gets good gas mileage. This isn?t Montgomery County. For the most part we?re more the land of the Ford, Chevy and Honda. Before people start grumbling about how much of Dr. Maxwell?s budget he didn?t get, maybe they need to study how and where he?s spending it. I believe he is ultimately responsible for how and where the money is spent. Our teachers are the front line troops for education and deserve much better than Dr. Maxwell short-changing them. If we don?t agree with Mr. Leopold?s decisions we can elect someone else. What are we supposed to do when we don?t agree with Dr. Maxwell?s decisions? Do we really need someone that doesn't know the difference between a pogo-stick and a Mercedes leading our school system?

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Dave D. - Pasadena, MD - Karma: Neutral

AACPS Budget - May 5, 2008

Thank you for going to bat for all the teachers in the county Dr. Maxwell. As a young teacher, father, and mortgage owner; each year is a question of whether we will be able to afford to stay in the county, or if we will need to move to a cheaper area outside of Anne Arundel County. After reading Mr. Leopold's background and history, I believe it is safe to say his six figure lifestyle has caused him to lose touch with the common person and the struggles we face every month. With cheap county housing still at the quarter-million mark, child care at over a thousand a month, gas prices setting records, and food prices close behind; my wife (a kindergarten teacher) and I (middleschool teacher)will have no choice but to move to another area that will allow us to chase our dream of helping youngsters as well as make a modest living if the contractual aggreement is not honored. There are a lot of young teachers in our position, that like us may have to leave if Mr. Leopold can not determine a way to keep our payscales commesurate with the cost of living in one of the richest counties in the state.

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shawn wingard - glen burnie, MD - Karma: Bad

AACPS budget - May 4, 2008

As a teacher in one of the county schools, I have already felt the pinch from this budget this year, and am sure to next year. What many people don't know is that we teachers aren't even getting the full amount of the raise promised to us in our last bargaining agreement- we settled for a percent lower because they wanted to load even more work on the already undoable workload we already have. Many teachers at my school have already spent thousands of dollars out of their own pockets to make up for what this budget is lacking- in order to give the students an acceptable education. My fear is that we won't be able to do this much longer. It is also important to note that our school teachers make less than every other county surrounding us- and with cutbacks like this that will bring increased class sizes and other hardships, many great teachers will pursue employment in other counties or get out of the teaching profession all together. These are some of the reasons it is so hard to find quality teachers, and to keep them on staff. If you have children or grandchildren in the county, PLEASE write to Mr. Leopold. After all, it is our future in jeopardy here.

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Mandi R. - Bowie, MD - Karma: Bad