Starr wants $10,000,000 more than law mandates for MCPS 2014 Budget

County Council President Nancy Navarro leaked to the press that Superintendent Joshua Starr is going to ask for $10,000,000 more than is required under Maryland law for the MCPS Fiscal Year 2014 budget.

But, shhh.  The actual budget hasn't been released yet.  It won't be released until Tuesday, December 12, 2012 during the Board of Education meeting.  

So let the games begin!  

For those new to this game, he's about how it goes:

Councilmember leaks the MCPS request.
Another Councilmember protests the leak!
MCPS asks for more money. Squabbling ensues.
The Council says NO!

The Council says they are "monitoring MCPS' spending more closely."
The Superintendent cuts arts, music and PE. 
The Board of Education unanimously votes for everything.
The PTA's rally, cry and petition! 

The Council creates the crumb rubber tax. (Whereby families are taxed for each piece of crumb rubber that is removed from an artificial turf field by a child's sneaker.)

MCPS gets the additional funding!

Art, music and PE are cut anyway.

MCPS continues long standing practice of making major purchases without competitive bids, RFPs or contracts, and legal documents committing taxpayer funds are signed without Board of Education votes. These practices were first documented when Nancy Navarro was President of the Board of Education.  See here, here, here, and here.

A year later parents ponder how it is that the "increased" MCPS budget has yielded cuts to their child's classroom.

Lather, rinse, repeat.