Montgomery County Gets What It Deserves: The Biggest Tax Hike in 7 Years as Student Achievement Wanes
by
Wcbm
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MARYLAND, PROUD SANCTUARY JURISDICTION, GETS WHAT IT DESERVES: THE BIGGEST TAX HIKE IN SEVEN YEARS AS STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT WANES
When Montgomery County, Maryland, Council President Nancy Floreen appeared on WMAL radio in Washington, D.C. to explain the county’s new budget, which hikes taxes 8.7 percent, the highest spike in seven years, she crowed about how the money would help the schools. “Classrooms are crowded,” she said. “We have a lot of teacher issues.”
Asked about the impact of illegal immigration on this population in the schools, she became flustered and claimed that the figures were unavailable to her at the time, implying that the numbers are out there. School and county officials, however, said that they do not track the figure.
Montgomery County schools are dealing with the same issues as other magnets for illegal immigration: costs are rising but performance by students in the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program is poor.
With teachers being asked to do more in Montgomery County, the new budget could have a negative effect on morale since the school system plans to negate a negotiated eight percent raise and only offer 4.5 percent, a move allowed by state law.
