Dear Council Member,
Below is a Mother’s Day message to you from parents, MCPS employees and concerned stakeholders [Please note: these are separate signers]. We urge you to make fully funding the County Executive’s budget for Montgomery County Public Schools your top priority. Montgomery County mothers and the kids they love deserve nothing less!
Respectfully,
Merle Cuttitta, President, SEIU Local 500
Signed by:
“Education is a unique key. It opens doors. And provides a livelihood. Not funding it. Amounts to leaving our children. With houses without keys. Stop, think about it!”
- Barnabas N. from 20715
“Please fund the education budget for a brighter tomorrow for MCPS moms and their children!”
- Carol S. from 20723
“Please make education your top priority because it is my top priority. Continue to make Maryland a great place to raise a family. Keep your promise to teacher pension plans, keep benefits for teachers, and keep class size small.”
- Elaina B. from 20770
“I urge you to fund Montgomery County Public Schools budget.”
- Susan N. from 20814
“Montgomery County Public Schools is ranked the top of the nation. How do you think this happened? Professional development trainings, programs, initiatives, and standards may originate outside the classroom, but it’s the supporting staff, teachers, and administrators who make it happen on a daily basis. How long do you think that will continue without the proper support from the County Council?”
- Cindy V. from 20816
“Be generous in funding education. I would support a tax increase to meet the school board’s budget proposal. Their proposal would require, according to Ike Leggett’s office a few hundred dollars more from each taxpaying household. A dollar a day per family to ensure excellent education is a bargain!”
- Jennifer M. from 20817
“I’ll be graduating from UMD and moving on to Maryland law school thanks to the excellent education I got in Montgomery County’s public schools. My folks moved to this county–and paid substantially more for their modest home than they might have elsewhere–expressly to get me this opportunity. Now my mother is relying on her property to hold its value so she can be secure in her retirement. Cuts to the school budget wouldn’t just hurt MCPS kids; homeowners will also suffer from diminished returns on their investment.”
- Allan T. from 20817
“After 25 years of teaching the young children of montgomery county, after giving up sundays with my own children so that I could plan for the education of others, after working late day after day, my retirement is not enough to live on! Shame on you!!”
- donna b. from 20877
“Keep our quality education. Who will ever want to live in Montgomery County if our schools are not the best? I know I wouldn’t – would you?”
- Virginia O. from 20817
“Keep our schools strong.”
- Lucy M. from 20817
“Hello,
As a mother of two and an educator of MCPS, I strongly urge you to use your power to fund education. Or at least you do what is right: STATE AID FOR EDUCATION SHOULD BE SPENT ON EDUCATION!.
Sincerely,
Sookhee”
- Sookhee P. from 20832
“Please don’t cut funding for our schools. Our kids are counting on you.”
- Kirsten N. from 20832
“Please find other ways to balance the budget and stop punishing the children. They are our future; they deserve the best teachers, the best staff, the best environment. They deserve your support as our elected officials! Please show our schools we support education and the children of Montgomery County.”
- Stephanie F. from 20832
“Please support our children. Class sizes are out of control. I will have 29 second graders next year. MD. For the past 15 years my top class size was 23. I can differentiate and individualize. I can meet with parents and address specifie issues. Too many..too little attention, instructions. KEEP OUR FUNDS AND KEEP OUR CLASS SIZE DOWN!”
- Ann T. from 20832
“Teachers, parents, kids and people who know that an educated public leads to a better quality of life for everyone all value education and want YOU to place it at the top of your priorities as well.”
- Susan N. from 20832
“Value education means low class size in all subjects, increased funding for arts, liveable wages and benefits for teachers and professional growth so our teachers can continue to be the best!”
- Karen B. from 20833
“With too many cuts to vital programs and school positions now, we will pay later with an increased dropout rates, and a student body entering the workforce far behind in skills that are needed. Please consider our students’ and county’s future carefully.”
- Clare G. from 20837
“Please consider that you are downgrading the quality of our public education just when America is struggling to find competent workers for the jobs that are ready to come available.”
- Linda P. from 20841
“It’s time to realize that this county doesn’t have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem. I work hard within the school system to be sure I do my best to provide what the children need in order to receive the best education possible. Now you want me and my coworkers to take cuts to continue to fund the council’s spending problem. This county needs to cut out some of the wasteful gimme programs before it is too late. I left the private sector to come to MCPS because of the benefits, but if those are going to be cut back, I will go back to the private sector where the money is much better.”
- Helen W. from 20850
“Nothing is more important than the educational future of our children!”
- Colleen S. from 20850
“Please make every effort to fund our schools at the MOE effort, or at least fund the fine for not doing so.”
- Martha L. from 20850
“Thank you for doing what will keep our educational system so strong. Please use the funds from the state that are designated for education just for education. Teachers continue to work harder and harder with more demands (no raises, larger classes)
but our commitment to the students is still as strong as ever. Thank you for yours!”
- Ellen C. from 20850
“What happened to the waiver? The instrumental music program is being crippled!”
- Heather B. from 20850
“I am 6 months pregnant, and though my child will not be attending school for several years, I am deeply concerned about what is happening to public education here in Montgomery County. I have always thought I would send my children to public school, but when I see how the County Council is cutting funding for public education left and right, I don’t see how our schools can remain as successful as they are now. Please ensure that the children of Montgomery County have a bright future to look forward to by providing necessary funding towards education. Thank you.”
- Karen H. from 20851
“Please continue to value education by fully funding it for our students and our future!”
- Susie P. from 20851
“Any savings you achieve today by cutting education funding any further are illusory. Any fat in the system is gone now. Further cuts will save short-term, but will cost you long-term because our children will be less well-educated as a result. Don’t believe for one second that the quality of education is not affected when you increase class size. Don’t believe for one second that the quality of education isn’t affected when outstanding 1st or 2nd year teachers are axed (last in, first out). Don’t believe for one second that the qulaity of education is not affected by forcing teachers to carry more than their fare share of the economic downturn (losing ground to inflation because pay is frozen, paying more fof medical costs, paying more of pension costs) won’t cause some of the most capable teachers that have other career options to get out, which will affect the qulaity of education. Don’t believe for one second that the quality of education is not affected when you cut programs further. Don’t sacrifice the long-term benefits, both in terms of economic impact and otherwise, of a more well-educated population, for short-term savings. A less well-educated population will cost us A LOT of money in the future.”
- Jeff F. from 20852
“Quality education is one of the great thinks about living in Montgomery County. Please preserve it.”
- Albert H. from 20852
“Edcating our children will determine the quality of life style in our leaders of tomorrow.”
- david n. from 20853
“Morale at schools is slipping. What else is important other than our children?”
- Donna O. from 20853
“NO MORE CUTS!”
- Mary Ann R. from 20853
“PLEASE, NO MORE CUTS! Our country’s future depends on the education of “our future!””
- Theresa W. from 20853
“The greatest honor the county can give me as a mother and grandmother, is to keep education a very high priority in order to ensure a bright future for my children’s children!! That is every mother and grandmother’s prayer and hope today.
Thank you for listning and PLEASE honor your Mothers’ wish 
”
- Rafca K. from 20853
“These cuts will hurt students; property values in this county are directly related to the school system’s reputation. Please fund the school budget.”
- Patricia W. from 20853
“Happy Mother’s Day to those Mothers in the County Council.”
- Dr. Nancy B. H. from 20854
“Education is a top priority for our children”
- sherine e. from 20855
“I already work three jobs, limiting the extra hours that I can devote to my classroom duties. The state of Maryland has already cut my salary by 2%. Further salary cuts or health care increases will mean me having to find yet another source of outside income, completely eliminating my ability to donate free overtime to my students. If you think that a teacher can accomplish all that needs to be done during his normal work hours, you are sadly mistaken. Don’t kill Montgomery County’s golden goose. Fully fund our schools!”
- Mark C. from 20855
“Please do not cut any more funding for our schools, kids, teachers and families. We have already seen the effects of the cuts with 29 first graders in one class!”
- Mary K. from 20855
“The children are our future. We cannot do this to them or ourselves.”
- Ann W. from 20860
“Our children deserve the best. They are our future. Please don’t take that away from them.
Sandra Ross”
- sandra r. from 20866
“Please do the right thing. Spend state monies intended for education for EDUCATION”
- Elizabeth D. from 20866
“Do what’s right!”
- Randy K. from 20872
“Our teachers, police officers and fire fighters are our key to our successful future. Let’s make sure we have the best resources for all. Thank you.”
- Carol M. from 20872
“Please don’t undo all we’ve accomplished! I already put in 60-70 hours/week depending upon the time of year and now I will need to cut back to look and hopefully secure a 2nd job. My expenses are rising and salaries are not. Now, we have more to do with less resources. Don’t be naive and think this won’t harm our children. It will! I’m even more discouraged because my children are now in the school system and won’t benefit from the supports that used to be available. How sad! When things are going well, we thank the parents, when things are going poorly, we blame the teachers. Teachers are the foundation of our world. Value education, please! Our future literally depends on it!”
- Sue K. from 20872
“Please remember that our high ranking schools are what developes our county’s tax base. People and companies don’t move to an area because of their great roads, or fire department. They come because of the schools. Teachers make schools. If you don’t support highly qualified teachers you don’t support the future of Montgomery County.”
- Susan O. from 20872
“Think of the children in our community. . . and save our schools! It is the right thing to do.”
- Carol B. from 20872
“Do you think it is time to stop blaming teachers for all the woes of the county? I do!”
- Jennifer K. from 20874
“I am a single mom of a middle school student in MCPS. I am also an MCPS teacher. If my health benefits are changed as Mr. Leggett proposes it will decimate my household budget; putting me and my child; your student; at risk. I’m not asking for a raise or a COLA increase – I’m asking you not to take more away from me and my child. I’m a tax-payer too.”
- Jo Anne D. from 20874
“I was a volunteer mom from 1997-2003 in elementary schools, helping to teach small-group math-reading, and very active on the PTA. In 2004 I became an MCPS SpEd para educator, working with secondary lower-functioning students. I continue to work with SpEd secondary SCB. These students are fully capable of learning, but at a slower pace than the GenEd population, concentrating on applying the math/reading applications needed to successfully carry out life skills. Because of student assimilation time, we practice these skills beginning in middle school, with the goal of preparing students to function in the world after age 21. We serve a definitive purpose, just as every teacher does in MCPS. We cannot reach students when spread so thin – we must allocate more time to administrative duties, and spend less time focused on parent-student-staff collaboration. Funding is so important – we must maintain the status quo, continuing to provide all application facets needed for an education, to support all our students, aiming for SuCcEsS !”
- Rebecca B. from 20874
“It takes a village to raise a child. Now is not the time to cut funds. We need to ensure the future of our children.”
- Michele T. from 20874
“Please ensure that our school system’s budget is fully funded!”
- Carol P. from 20874
“Please keep the jobs of those single mothers that love the students they have in there classes and hope to make a different in there lives of them and the parents.”
- Maria A. from 20874
“Please keep the jobs of those single mothers that love the students they have in there classes and hope to make a different in there lives of them and the parents.”
- Maria A. from 20874
“Review the MOE before deciding to not file for it. We can use all the forgiveness we can get. This results in funding being available for our children….
Just Do It!!!”
- Genevieve D. from 20874
“Your mothers would be ashamed of what you are trying to do to the quality of education in this county. Why should my taxes fund your mistakes rather than my child’s education?”
- Rachel H. from 20874
“Fund our schools!! Our county’s children and families are worth the expense.”
- Ilyssa W. from 20876
“I urged someone I care about come out and vote for the council members becuase I said their vote impacts me and helps me with my job. They would not have come out otherwise to vote.”
- Gabriella W. from 20876
“What happened to No Child Left Behind if you cut our Funding that’s what’s going to happend!!!!!!!”
- charlotte t. from 20876
“Teachers reach the world!”
- Debi C. from 20877
“Try caring about us!!!”
- Diane J. from 20877
“FUND OUR SCHOOLS AND KEEP THE PROMISE!”
- Roberta R. from 20878
“I am a single mother with two teenage daughters. I work as a special education para-educator. I love my work, love to help kids thrive. Please understand that those of us at the bottom rungs are already in severe financial straits. Please I want to keep my job, keep the health benefits my kids need. Cutting education is the wrong way to go. It’s not fat, it’s muscle and bones.”
- Diane K. from 20878
“I am shocked that I work for one of the top school systems in America, where people from around the nation come to for our special education services and dedicated teachers….and yet our positions are being cut, funding is being sliced, and we have one of the worst pensions in the country. How can this be? It only lowers morale, invites less motivated teachers to apply, and makes the good ones leave…please reconsider.”
- Robin B. from 20878
“More kids, more diversity, high expectations for all. Please help us fulfill our mission for all our children.”
- Cristina L. from 20878
“Please remember who loses when education is cut.
The children deserve our best.”
- Kathleen F. from 20878
“The future relies on the younger generations. We must provide them adequated education!”
- Yu Ying H. from 20878
“would you be in your position today if it was’t for the teacher ?”
- li l. from 20878
“Dear Council Members,
Investment in education is an investment in our most valuable resource – the future citizens of Montgomery County and our country. It is an investment that pays off hugely in economic and social ways. Every Mom knows that giving the best to our children when they are young produces excellent of adults. The Council should do the same when thinking about education funding.”
- Anne M. from 20879
“As a voter in MoCo. It is important to me and my family that you FULLY fund education!!!”
- Lauri F. from 20886
“Keep YOur Campaign Promises to keep our schools great.”
- David H. from 20886
“Please do not cut the county’s budget on the backs of our children. Thank you.”
- Lynne D. from 20886
“I have three special needs children, please do not short change them, they need a bright future. This would be the best Mother’s Day Gift ever.”
- Becky H. from 20895
“As a mom and a teacher please STOP this craziness! Raise taxes, cut something else but stop taking away my pay! I can barely afford to keep MY own children in MCPS schools!!!!!!!!!”
- Jennifer H. from 20901
“I urge you to support full funding for MCPS so that every mother’s child may lead a successful life while contributing positively to the community. Not all students will go to college. We need to provide support and skills for students who will work in the service industries. This means educational goals for all students, of all abilities and for all their career goals. We need full funding in order to address success for all students.”
- Cathy U. from 20901
“Please do the right thing by all the moms and children of Montgomery County. Don’t throw away the greatness county residents have built and invested in for so many years — our public school system. Without it, our property values or county’s future success and most of all it’s children will suffer.”
- Anna O. from 20901
“As a taxpayer and parent in Montgomery County I am very concerned about this county council’s lack of vision. Education and quality school are important! Important for the future and important for our property values. I moved to the county for the schools. Why you would cut their budget further baffles me. Please support our school! Fund Education in Montgomery County for our children, for the future!”
- Miranda B. from 20902
“Stop playing politics with our children’s future and DO THE RIGHT THING.”
- Joshua R. from 20902
“Think about the children and the future they hold for Montgomery County!!!!”
- Sally M. from 20902
“As a parent of a MCPS High School student, I see the impact on how budget cuts are hurting my child’s education. Teachers have not had a raise in years. Low morale means burnt out teachers and definitely no quality education. New teachers with no experience is not the answer. The answer is to reward the excellent teachers you already have. Let them know that their hard work, professionalism and expertise is appreciated or you can say good-bye to the future of our kids.”
- Renee J. from 20903
“MCPS is a good steward of it’s funds, and the results speak for themselves. We have one of the very best school systems in the nation. Please fully fund the MCPS budget request.”
- Laurie C. from 20904
“Please fund our budget. I am really hurting with the cut that is proposed for me next year. My job has been cut my salary has been cut in half. I am at a loss at to how I am going to complete the functions of my job next year in 4 hrs. per day. I was hired on at 8 hrs. 12 years as a full time Media Assistant and am working every minute that I am in the building. I don’t take my 15 min. breaks and hardly get a moment to eat my lunch some days. Normally have lunch with interruptions at my desk. This is how I keep my head above water and keep up with my daily work load. The salary loss will certainly be a big hardship for me next year. I sure hope I don’t lose my home. The children need us here.”
- Dee W. from 20905
“Thank you”
- Neelka M. from 20906
“As a mother of a MCPS child and an educator, I am saddened that the money being allocated by the state will not be reaching MCPS. Please continue to fund our students’ futures and our profession. Cutting education will cause us to slip from our national top 100 schools’ rankings!”
- Jacqueline R. from 20910
“I urge you to to fully fund the public schools to the level suggested by the school board”
- Anne M. from 20910
“Fund the schools for our kids.”
- Ron C. from 21773
“Please reconsider funding public education to the fullest.”
- Marion R. from 22207
“To each and everyone of you. I hope you have a Happy Mother’s Day. Please consider that our children’s education is also “our” future not only their’s..”
- Patty T. from 25442
“Dear Council Member,
Everyone knows that “Knowledge is Power”. You had the right to gain a free, appropriate, and top-notch education otherwise you wouldn’t be where you are today.The future generations deserve the same type of opportunity if not more. It cannot happen if majority of the funding is not in education. Show us you care for our future leaders!”
- Kavita S. from 60195
“Thanks for your work. I hope the Moms advce will help you reach the wisest decisons.”
- Stella B.
- PierAngeli M. from 20707
- Judith F. from 20906
- Subhadra T. from 20874
- Kathleen F. from 20882
- Aisha A. from 20011
- Maggie T. from 20852
- Nancy C. from 22203
- Victoria B. from 20901
- Rosa S. from 20874
- Alison F. from 20872
- Merle C. from 20879
- Gwendolyn F. from 20902
- Marykay A. from 20832
- Ruth H. from 20832
- Dennis L. from 20877
- Celia C. from 21619
- Elissa B. from 20815
- Carlos M. from 20903
- Lamin B. from 20910
- Rebecca W. from 20814
- Shelly M. from 20871
- B P. from 20832
- Joanna S. from 20832
- Tina L. from 20906
- Linda J. from 20852
- Mary B. from 20855
- Valerie E. from 20850
- Nancy F. from 20850
- Terrie P. from 20853
- Jill S. from 20871
- Tim S. from 20850
- Margaret K. from 20874
- pingping c. from 20874
- Julia S. from 20814
- Marla H. from 20817
- julia c. from 20814
- Denise R. from 20740
- Carolyn T. from 20850
- Anne R. from 20901
- Tamala R. from 20905
- Lauren M. from 20878
- Jessica B. from 20850
- Linda B. from 20876
- Elissa R. from 20878
- Renee S. from 20850
- Ashley M. from 20841
- Tamara H. from 20886
- Alicia H. from 20910
- Kathryn K. from 20815
- Deirdre B. from 20879
- Manal A. from 20905
- Steve Z. from 0
- Gerald B. from 20872
- JoAnne G. from 20850
- Tanya M. from 20904
- Barbara D. from 20678
- Diana L. from 20852
- Lan L. from 20878
- Lisa B. from 20871
- Denise C. from 20855
- lulu F. from 20855
- Bonnie P. from 20886
- Debra A. from 20901
- Martina L. from 20886
- Elaine D. from 20850