Response to OpEd from President of Taxpayers League:

Response from Esther Wells, President of Montgomery County Taxpayers League to March 29, 2025, OpEd on Bethesda Today. 

~~~

This OpEd is disingenuous. “The County Council now needs to decide: Does it invest in education or not?” 

Taxpayers have consistently funded MCPS far above the required levels. So,that’s not the right question to ask. 

The real question is what accountability will MCPS provide Students & Taxpayers in the form of academic ROI [Return on Investment] if we fund MCPS over $250M higher than required to per State law? 

Test scores are stagnant/declining, public safety in our schools are at unacceptable levels, MCPS struggles to ensure every classroom has a teacher in it daily, $168M funds wasted with EV buses that don’t work, multi-million dollar school bus tracking app that can’t protect student data, so that gets canned. 

Millions spent annually in legal fees, embezzlement of funds in transportation dept, the list goes on. 

Let’s balance the conversation and stop making it seem like Taxpayers have not prioritized funding to our schools, we have. 

What we’ve lacked is accountability of the investment. 

Can someone please provide a SMART goal on what the ROI will be to fully fund MCPS in FY2026? Thanks

Esther L. Wells on X: "@bethesda_today This OpEd is disingenuous. “The County Council now needs to decide: Does it invest in education or not?” Taxpayers have consistently funded MCPS far above the required levels. So,that’s not the right question to ask. The real question is what accountability will MCPS provide https://t.co/XY63Y5esTf" / X