Montgomery County Public Schools tabbed a well-known regional economic expert to show how a fully-funded schools budget would help the local and state economy.
The school system is facing state education funding cuts, a Montgomery County budget shortfall and an uphill fight in Annapolis for a state bond bill that would provide $20 million in annual construction funds.
To help make its case, MCPS hired George Mason University professor Stephen Fuller to do a study on how its $2.7 billion in operating and construction budget requests for FY 2016 would impact the economy.
If the County Council fully funds the school system’s operating budget request and the state legislature approves the construction bill, Fuller found that MCPS spending would contribute $3.2 billion to the county economy and $4.1 billion to the state economy.
“What this study does is demonstrate that for every dollar our community invests in MCPS, there is a significant economic benefit as well,” Board of Education President Patricia O’Neill said in a press release. “For every dollar that is invested, we generate $1.50 for the state economy.”
The study also found that MCPS would generate $711 million in new personal earnings to county workers beyond MCPS employee salaries and support 17,388 full-time, year-round jobs locally and elsewhere. A little more than 9,000 of those jobs would be held by workers who live in the county.
Fuller claimed MCPS was the county’s third most important source of economic activity, after the federal government and county government.
“As a result of these direct and indirect (and induced) economic benefits, MCPS is one of the County’s largest ‘businesses’ accounting for more than four percent of Montgomery County’s employment base and its gross county product,” Fuller wrote.
The Board of Education will soon submit its $2.39 billion FY 16 operating budget request to County Executive Isiah Leggett and the County Council. The request is a 4 percent increase in spending from last year. The school system says 99 percent of the request “supports the same level of service MCPS provides now.”
Because of threats from Gov. Larry Hogan to cut a state education funding formula, the Board decided to trim its recommendation by $10 million, compared to the request made by then-Superintendent Joshua Starr in December.
“Given concerns about the county’s fiscal situation, MCPS is also preparing for additional cuts,” read a school system press release on the Fuller study. “For instance, as the district allocates positions for the 2015-2016 school year, more than 350 positions that are in the Board’s budget request will not be provided to schools, including vital teaching and support positions.”
Via MCPS
