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MoCo Council Calls For Cuts, Schools Haven't Met Goals Yet

By: Matt Bush // December 9, 2010
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Lawmakers in Montgomery County, Md., are pressing the county school system to find additional ways to cut its budget immediately.

All agencies in the county are being asked to cut their bottom line because of budget woes, with the school system being asked to trim close to $20 million.

So far, the schools have achieved about three-fourths of that through a hiring freeze and other measures. But county council members are beginning to get impatient with the schools because other agencies have been able to reach their spending reduction goals.

"Everybody else is meeting the mark, and...you had a $10 million surplus," said Council President Valerie Ervin, after receiving the latest update from the system on its attempts to cut spending.

The school system says much of that surplus evaporated because of a cut in state funding.

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