State Senators, Delegates Visit Wootton To Discuss Education

State senators and delegates from the 15th, 17th, and 39th districts visited Rockville’s on Nov. 28 for a discussion about issues that will affect education, schools, and the children who attend them in the upcoming legislative session in Annapolis.

The PTA event – hosted by cluster chairperson Rich Edelman – featured six local representatives, each of whom shared different opinions about issues related to school budgets and renovations.

The panel included Kathleen Dumais (D-Dist. 15), James Gilchrist (D-Dist. 15), Rob Garagiola (D-Dist. 15), Nancy King (D-Dist. 39), and Lou Simmons (D-Dist. 17). Senator Jennie Forehand (D-Dist. 17) arrived late.

Among the many issues discussed, audience members repeatedly brought up the topic of Wootton’s pending renovation for the 2017 school year and issues with class size. 

Wootton currently sits at about 20 percent over capacity, PTA president Andrea Bernardo said.

However, school renovation and class size are not things that can be addressed directly at the state level, King said. Instead, she suggested voicing concerns to the Montgomery County Council. 

The issue at the state level is the lack of funding, she said.

“There’s just not enough money at the moment,” Dumais said. “We will continue to fight to get Montgomery County’s fair share, but we’ve got a couple of really tough years ahead of us and there is no two ways around it.”

According to Simmons, there are opportunities to move state funding into education, but there isn’t enough support for the legislation required to do so.

“We have the opportunity to spend $750 million in the next two years on school construction and we’re not going to do it,” Simmons said.

Simmons attributed this to the state lawmakers’ decision to support Maryland’s horse racing industry with $100 million each year in slot machine revenue.

“I want you to understand, I’m not saying it’s $1 million,” he said. “I did not misspeak. It is $100 million a year, $1 billion every 10 years, to support a business in Maryland that creates .03 percent jobs – 9,000 out of over 2.6 million – and is .35 percent of the economy.”

Simmons, who said he would be in favor of a repeal of this legislation, said the money could, in turn, be used to support schools like Wootton and Poolesville that are in need of modernization.