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Fact Check
SCHOOLS/EDUCATION
Montgomery County teachers have endorsed Marc! Here's what they had to say!
"As a former educator, Marc Elrich understands the need for prioritizing public education and ensuring that educators and students are accounted for. Mr. Elrich has continuously proposed budgets and initiatives that ensure educators can effectively instruct our children. Not only has County Executive Elrich proven a commitment to public education, but he also worked tirelessly to best address COVID-19, made progress in advancing racial justice, and gave educators a seat at the table with meaningful policy when others gave us platitudes. MCEA is proud to stand in solidarity with Marc and looks forward to working with him once he wins re-election,” - Jennifer Martin, President of MCEA.
Passage of Blueprint for Maryland's Future
Marc testified in favor of and worked with the Montgomery County Delegation in Annapolis to pass and override the subsequent veto of The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future. Funds n the blueprint provide additional funds to be used to expand pre-kindergarten programs and career education, increase salaries and career opportunities for teachers and increase funding for schools with high poverty rates.of early childhood education, high-quality and diverse teachers and leaders, college and career readiness pathways, more resources to ensure success for all students, and governance/oversight and accountability.
81% of Montgomery County residents think our public schools are good or excellent
13 schools have been completely rebuilt, revitalized or expanded opened/groundbreaking/revitalization/expansions over the last 4 years
We invested a record $2.9 billion in our schools. The most recent budget had the largest Budget EVER for Montgomery County Public Schools – a $148 million increase from the previous year (FY22).
Montgomery County teachers are paid well above the state average
Teacher retirements are rising and more needs to be done, which is why I’m proud to be endorsed by Montgomery County teachers.
Instead of looking at teachers as the enemies, I’ve worked with them - figuring out ways to provide them additional resources, working to ease the burden of testing and providing record funding for our K-12 schools.
Public safety
We can both ensure that our communities remain safe as well as restore trust in policing. That’s why Marc's budget have increased police spending by $23.3 million, or 8%, and today stands at $296 million.
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Salaries for junior police officers increased by 28% over the last four years.
And it is why Marc has led the charge to create the first Police Accountability Board in the County’s history. But Marc knows that public safety isn’t just about crime, it’s about keeping our families safe and supporting those who help them at their worst times and he has responded. It’s also why he has funded mental health crisis teams to give our police officers tools to address some of the challenges they encounter.
It’s why School security officers have endorsed Marc, because they know he’s the best candidate to keep our schools safe.
"I have worked for years with community members and organizations to help our elected officials understand our concerns and find solutions that work for all of us. County Executive Marc Elrich understands the complexities of the issues and works tirelessly to help us make our communities safe and strong. He convened a working group to recommend improvements to our public safety efforts and has worked collaboratively with the school system to respond to their concerns about public safety. I greatly appreciate his work and strongly support his re-election."
- Tony Hausner,
Founder, Safe Silver Spring
Marc Elrich supports affordable housing near the metro. Others talk broadly about housing, often it’s for the friends of millionaire developers. Marc doesn’t just want increased housing, Marc wants them to be affordable for our residents who work in our County.
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Read about Marc’s latest innovative affordable housing project:
Read about other affordable housing initiatives led by the Elrich administration:
Read about the developers wanting giveaways:
Affordable housing is a national crisis - to find real solutions, we need to understand the problem and craft solutions that will actually solve it. See here and here for more information.
Listen to Marc explain the problem and discuss solutions here:
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Montgomery County’s unemployment rate is lower today than it was at the start of the COVID recession
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In March 2020 the County unemployment rate was 4.1%
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During COVID, Montgomery County’s unemployment rate went higher than ever before in our lifetimes to 9.8%
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The Montgomery County unemployment rate in May 2022 was 3.3%
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LOWER than before the pandemic hit in February 2020. See here: https://www.dllr.state.md.us/lmi/laus/lauscounties.shtml
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We’re aggressively recruiting businesses and they’re eager to come here: we have record lab construction and it was recently reported that "the life sciences industry wants to grow here."
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AND we are welcoming them! We have seen record private investment:
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Our vacancy rate is now lower than Northern Virginia:
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We’re also focused on small businesses with our Preference for Buying Local!
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And our Business Advancement Team supports both existing small businesses and help those who want to start a business.
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Marc knows that for our economy to be strong we need to narrow the economic divide, which is why he led two successful fights to raise the minimum wage.
Our budget is strong and better than it’s been in more than a decade with record revenues and no tax increase.
Here’s what COUNCIL MEMBERS had to say about the budget:
“This budget includes a record-level of education funding – including nearly $3 billion for Montgomery County Public Schools and more than $300 million for Montgomery College – recognizing that our youth are our future. This investment is a signal to students and parents that education is a child’s path to success, and it also sets us on a trajectory to enact the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future in the coming years.”
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Council Member Evan Glass
(Council Vice President Evan Glass’ Statement on the FY23 Operating Budget and FY23-28 Capital Improvements Program)
“Montgomery County’s $6.3 billion operating budget and six-year capital budget create the foundation for what is most important to us: a community with excellent schools, housing for all our residents, strong economic development, green spaces for recreation and relaxation, safe neighborhoods, robust libraries, strong public health services, resources for older adults to age in place with grace, a healthy environment and an essential safety net for our most vulnerable residents,” said Council President Gabe Albornoz.
“Every budget brings its own set of challenges and opportunities,” Albornoz noted. “This budget is among the strongest I can remember. Thanks to the support of federal and state partners, and an economic recovery that was stronger than anticipated, we had more resources to work with than we imagined possible at the beginning of the pandemic. In fact, over the last year, we have been working more closely with our state and local leaders to identify ways to help our community thrive, and they have come through for us on so many levels.”
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-Council Member Gabe Albornoz (Montgomery County Council Approves FY23 Operating Budget and FY23-28 Capital Improvements Program Focused on Education, Health and Human Services, Affordable Housing and the County’s Ongoing Pandemic Recovery)
“This budget meets our current moment and builds a strong foundation. Thank you to all the MoCo Citizens who testified – in multiple languages, at home, in person. You made the process better and the final budget we are set to approve will be stronger as a result.”
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Council Member Andrew Friedson
“Today, the County Council approved preliminary action on the Operating and Capital budgets. These budgets are based on equity and respond to the needs of our diverse community. I am especially pleased that we will be standing up my priority, wellness centers in every high school.”
- Council Member Nancy Navarro (Twitter)
And our county workers appreciate what we’ve done, which is why they’ve endorsed me!
