Education was at the forefront of the Prince George’s County Council budget hearings on April 28 and May 4 as the county opened the floor to the public to discuss the proposed 2027 operating budget.
Parents, educators and students demanded the county close a $30 million school funding gap, calling on the council to provide the entire $50 million that Prince George’s County Public Schools requested above the maintenance of effort level.
Maryland law requires the county to allocate a minimum amount of money per student, meeting a maintenance of effort baseline.
County schools officials say they are already absorbing $150 million in cuts for the upcoming fiscal year, calling it the largest single-year adjustment in the school district’s history.
The school system’s total budget will be nearly $21 million more than last year under the county executive’s proposed budget, according to a press release from the county executive’s office.
The Board of Education had requested $50 million above the legal minimum, but only $20 million was included in the budget proposed by the county executive.
When residents ask the Council to fully fund the request, they said they wanted to preserve programs, fund special education and prevent class sizes from increasing.
According to the county schools FY2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, the system’s financial challenges reflect a broader imbalance between recurring revenues and rising operational costs. Although revenues increased modestly to $3.21 billion, the district relied on a $157.2 million withdrawal from its general fund balance to sustain operations during the fiscal year, raising concerns about long-term budget sustainability.
In reference to the $150 million cut, Board of Education District Representative Aimee Olivo said the majority of the cuts came directly from the PGCPS central office.
“Our public schools are… a crucial pillar of our community. I’m well aware of the challenging budget decisions you are facing this year,” she said. “We’re asking for an increase of $50 million over the county executive’s proposed budget.”
This monetary context shaped the testimonies to follow. Dr. Donna Christy, representing the Prince George’s County Educators’ Association, noted on May 4 that her testimony marked the first day of Educator Appreciation Week. She said that after the cuts, “there is nothing left to trim without cutting into the core of school operations.”
“Let’s call this what it is,” she said. “This is not a question of need. The need is clear. This is a question of will. Will you find the $30 million or will you pass the consequences down to the classroom?”
Christy said that if the gap is not closed, there will be “fewer adults in buildings, larger class sizes, strain on special education services that are already underfunded and a workforce pushed back into instability.”
Dr. Anita Jones, vice president of PGCEA, emphasized the necessity of the funding to reduce long-term costs and strengthen the community.
“Our motto in this county is children come first,” she said. “The need is great and has grown beyond our current capacity. Demand for services has increased, and without adequate resources, we risk turning people away or reducing the quality of what we provide. So let’s not do that.”
“The investment is not just about meeting today’s needs. It’s about preventing bigger challenges tomorrow,” said Jones.
Timothy Meyer, a public education advocate, argued that the county has failed to invest properly in public schools for decades. He noted that PGCPS is 33% county-funded; in comparison, Anne Arrundel County is nearly half, and Montgomery County is two thirds.
According to the Maryland Department of Legislative Services (DLS) for FY 2025, Montgomery County’s per-pupil funding reached $21,008 with a local share of 64.6%, while Anne Arundel spent $19,102 per student with a 59.5% local contribution. While Prince George’s County’s per-pupil funding was $21,112, its local contribution was significantly lower at 34.4%, relying more heavily on state aid to bridge the gap.
“If you’re worried about this year’s budget and cuts, it’s about to get far worse,” he said. “PGCPS is not heading towards a funding cliff. We are already dangling over it.”
Meyer pointed out that the county has authority to raise taxes.
“That extra 0.1% could mean nearly $30 million more for education that would close our immediate budget gap, and averages to an extra $140,000 for each school in the future,” he said.
An electrical fire on April 19 at Cesar Chavez Dual Language Immersion Elementary School became a focal point for many speakers. Parents reported that old wiring in a classroom ventilator caused the blaze.
Jamie Bavishi, a Cesar Chavez Elementary parent, said that aging infrastructure and maintenance risks should not only be addressed after something goes wrong, urging the council to invest the requested amount to account for both student safety and educational programs.
“We are being asked to accept cuts to programs like language immersion and IB, the very programs that make our schools strong and keep families in this district,” she said. “We should not have to choose between safe buildings and strong programs.”
Ian Fay, the father of a second grader at Cesar Chavez, said that his daughter’s belongings were burned in the fire.
“I’m a conflict averse kind of person, so it’s difficult for me to come and say my kid needs the money. But I do know that when…money turns into numbers, and all we’re doing is pushing buttons these days, it’s hard to remember where those end up. So I’m asking you, when you press the buttons this time for the numbers to go out, to remember my daughter.”
Infrastructure concerns were brought up at other schools besides Cesar Chavez. One parent and PGPCS substitute teacher testified that John Hanson Montessori School has fallen into disrepair, and that her daughter told her she found a rat in her locker.
“When you walk inside the building after it rains, you see the water pooling on the floor,” she said. “We are dealing with vermin infestations, and for a couple of weeks, I was trying to figure out what the smell was on my children. It was the smell of the school, a moldy smell.”
She said that she has noticed problems in numerous schools through the district she has substituted for. She emphasized the necessity of the funding to invest in long-term solutions beyond moving educational facilities into trailers.
“I’m having a hard time understanding how we have all of these new facilities, all these recreation facilities and pools, while my children’s school is falling apart…we won’t attract new families if we don’t change things.”
Beyond infrastructure concerns, parents and faculty voiced concerns about academic programs being cut if the $50 million is not allocated.
Pei-Hsuan Liu, academic dean at Pembridge Chinese Immersion Elementary School, warned that the proposed budget threatens the county’s only tuition-free Chinese immersion program. She told the council that these cuts target successful students for purely fiscal reasons.
“The proposed cuts to the academic program are not about performance,” she said. “They are financial decisions, eliminating successful programs risks undoing years of progress.”
Caleb Hii, a father of five from a blended Chinese, Caucasian and Hispanic family, warned that cutting immersion programs set a dangerous precedent.
“When we’re cutting these programs, we’re sending a kind of message that perhaps academic performance or high quality programs that uplift students and children aren’t as important,” he said.
Special education programs were another consistent talking point during the sessions. Michelle Clark, a special educator at Kenmore Early Childhood Center, said that the system needs better funding to properly evaluate and serve students’ actual abilities. “You all really need to do whatever you can to get that money that they requested from the school system,” she said.
Theresa Smith, a parent and policy advocate, said her child is losing their special educator as a direct result of the budget cuts.
“We are at a critical juncture regarding our budget and the impact of these decisions are not abstract,” she said. “When we cut the professionals who provide essential, legally mandated support, we dismantle the very foundation of our students’ success.”
Smith called for complete transparency on the proposed $20 million proposal, as it is unclear if the money will be considered restricted funds.
“If this money is not strictly restricted, it remains vulnerable to being reallocated, leaving our most marginalized students without the resources they need,” she said. “I urge this council to allocate additional funding directly to the schools to save and sustain our educational programs. We cannot afford to defund what works.”
One parent named Alexandra urged the council to collaborate with the Board of Education to ensure that funding cuts were taken from administrative positions rather than classrooms, citing a promise made during the teacher union contract process that cuts would stay away from schools.
“When the Board of Education was voting to approve the teacher union contract pushed through by the interim superintendent, the contract that the school system could not afford, the parents were promised that the cuts would stay away from the classrooms,” she said.
“This promise is already broken… I urge you to fix this broken promise so that our kids do not suffer from the lack of fiscal responsibility and poor governance within the school system.”
Students in the PGPCS also testified directly during the sessions. Piper Kerr, an eighth grader at a speciality school in the district, said the immersion and IB programs improve the district’s overall performance and culture and deserve to be supported.
“These programs don’t compete with other students,” she said. “They don’t take from one student and give to another. They lift the entire academic culture of our school system. My friends, my peers, my sisters and brother, all of us are the ones who suffer when funding decisions fall short.”
Students from Liberty’s Promise, a program that supports immigrant youth, testified to how budget cuts would disproportionately impact students already struggling to learn a new language and adapt to a new school environment.
One junior from Northwestern High School from Colombia said Liberty’s Promise provided him a sense of community and allowed him to adapt to his school environment.
“I was here last year. I testified in Spanish because I didn’t feel confident at that time. Now I feel very proud of myself because I’m here speaking English, and it’s partly thanks to Liberty’s Promise.”
With the public comment period now on the record, Chair Krystal Oriadha and Vice Chair Olson will lead budget negotiations using testimony collected across both hearings. Written testimony continues to be accepted through the Council’s online portal until the final budget adoption.
The central question that residents left with the council was the one proposed by Dr. Donna Christy during the May 4 session; “People are paying very close attention to what you choose to do when it matters.”