Prince George’s County Board of Education
14201 School Lane • Upper Marlboro, Maryland 20772 • www.pgcps.org
This letter expresses the views
of the signers, not
the entire Board of
`
Education.
Edward Burroughs III
Board Member, District 8
301-952-6115
edward2.burroughs@pgcps.org
Raaheela Ahmed
Board Member, District 5
301-952-6115
Raaheela.Ahmed@pgcps.org
David Murray
Board Member, District 1
301-952-6115
David.Murray@pgcps.org
To provide a great education that empowers all students and contributes to thriving communities.
April 26, 2018
County Executive Baker:
In a recent interview on April 11, 2018, you defended Prince George's County Public
Schools (PGCPS) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) exorbitant salary increases to members
of his executive cabinet by stating: “[Dr.Maxwell] certainly has the authority to hire and to
fire and to raise people's salaries, as long as he is doing it under the confines of the law.”
You are correct that he does have certain rights under the law. However, it appears that
Dr. Kevin Maxwell has approved pay raises for several employees of the central office
outside the confines of Maryland law.
As you know, the Prince George’s County Board of Education has traditionally had the
authority to approve all salary increases of PGCPS employees, including all staff in the
central office. Since HB 1107 (the bill you led to passage in 2013), the PGCPS CEO has
limited authority to hire and set salaries for the approximately 18 executive staff members
in his cabinet/office. The law reads that the PGCPS CEO “Shall hire and set the salaries of
a chief operating officer, a chief financial officer, a chief academic officer, a chief of staff,
a board liaison, and any other necessary executive staff in the office of the Chief
Executive Officer.” Therefore, approved salary increases for individuals outside of Dr.
Maxwell’s executive cabinet/office appears to be a direct violation of the authority granted
to him by HB 1107.
Additionally, it appears that these new unauthorized salary increases by Dr. Maxwell went
to individuals on the Management and Executive Scales. Since its establishment, any
increase on the Executive and Management Scales mirrored the scales used by employees
of the ASASP union (the union for principals and assistant principals). The last salary
increase approved by the Board of Education for individuals on the Executive and
Management Scales was 2 percent. However, Dr. Maxwell has unilaterally approved three
step (9.4 percent) and four step (16 percent) increases for select individuals in the central
office. We can assure you that the principals and assistant principals that belong to
ASASP have not received pay increases anywhere near the magnitude authorized by Dr.
Maxwell for these select employees of the central office.
Combined with the unauthorized salary increases we wrote to you about in March 2018, it
appears there are now three separate departments receiving unauthorized salary increases.
This is a reckless disregard for tax payer dollars in Prince George’s County. It is
decimating the morale of hard working employees in the school district, to the degree that
teachers, bus drivers and support staff executed a ‘sick out’ on 4/19/18, and many are
planning on not returning to PGCPS in the fall.
MISSION STATEMENT
Prince George’s County Public Schools
 Page 2

We are in a crisis. We need your immediate intervention to resolve these management issues. Our
students and employees deserve smart, forthcoming, honest, and ethical leadership. The mismanagement
in PGCPS has been a distraction from the work and goals we have for our students. We are coming to
you, to request your immediate intervention to resolve this issue, and hold leadership accountable for this
apparent wrongdoing.

Dr. Maxwell has publicly defended his excessive Central Office staff salary increases by stating: “Salary
adjustments for the identified positions were due to greater job responsibilities, improved pay parity
and/or increased cost of living.”

We can confirm with absolute certainty that our principals, teachers, and support staff have additional
responsibilities every year without meaningful compensation increases. There is no pay parity for our
teachers who could leave PGCPS to go teach in neighboring jurisdictions and earn $10,000-$15,000 more
in compensation. Our teachers and support staff deserve an adequate cost of living salary adjustment that
mirrors the substantial increases that Dr. Maxwell has given to select members of his executive cabinet.

As you develop the county’s upcoming FY 2018-2019 budget, will you support our educators and support
staff by increasing their salaries by 4 percent “due to greater job responsibilities, improved pay parity
and/or increased cost of living?”

Respectfully,

Accountability and Solutions Caucus

Edward Burroughs, District 8
Raaheela Ahmed, District 5
David Murray, District 1

MISSION STATEMENT

To provide a great education that empowers all students and contributes to thriving communities.

Prince George’s County Public Schools