Last Tuesday, and several Tuesdays in recent months, parents, teachers, and administrators have spoken to the the Cecil County Council in support of more funding for the public school system.

Below are my comments from the budget hearing held on April 29:

Good evening. Thank you for the opportunity to speak in support of our schools.

First, I’d also like to thank you for the time you spent addressing our concerns about the Perryville High School track. As you can tell from the outpouring of support from our PHS families and community members, we are very proud of the efforts of our student athletes and we want them to have the facilities and support they need and deserve to be successful in both academics and athletics.

As I’ve said before, my interest in the schools isn’t just about sports or just about Perryville. I support the work of the Cecil County Public Schools as a whole.

In the past few weeks, it’s become clear to me that you are not familiar with much of the the good work, and  the needs, of the individual schools in our county and I encourage you to change that. Our students, teachers, and administrators are doing wonderful things in our communities with limited resources and, sometimes in deplorable conditions.

Visit the schools when there are students and teachers in the buildings or stop by the athletic fields in the afternoons to experience our community spirit as we cheer on our student athletes–and I guarantee that you will see the positive results and potential of our investment in education. And I ask you to imagine what our students could do if our schools were fully funded.