Teacher Support
With the implementation of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future comes the hope for a well deserved increase in salaries for our teachers. State law mandates this increase with little financial backing for the counties which puts the pressure on our county government. With the lowest starting salary for teachers in the state and a huge disparity in pay for other teachers compared to neighboring counties, we are starting to lose excellent teachers.
Small-Class Learning
Research shows that along with outstanding teachers, smaller class sizes contribute to better academic success for students which is reflected in our test scores. Parents, students, teachers, administrators, and community members in our county continue to prioritize small class sizes. Having taught in a school system that increased their class sizes by 10 or more from one year to the next, Elena saw the negative impact on both relationships with students and test scores due to the larger classes.
Parental Involvement
As a school district, Board of Education members are shareholders with parents in the education of their children. Parents have the right to address concerns with curriculum and reading materials. Within the boundaries of state law, parents can opt out of specific health curriculum topics and limit which books their children can check out of school libraries.
