We, the Faculty and staff at The Maryland School for the Deaf, dedicate our lives to helping educate and develop young deaf and hard of hearing students in our state. Deaf and hard of hearing students deserve the same chances to succeed and excel as any other students in Maryland.

However, over the past decade, the state has failed to uphold its commitment to our community by underfunding our school.

Over the past 15 years, pay raises promised to faculty and staff have gone unfunded, and positions have gone unfilled. This year, when our state has a $4.6 billion surplus, the governor’s proposed budget won’t even keep us ahead of inflation and the rising cost of living. Chronic underfunding has caused highly trained staff to leave, and those who remain are asked to do more with less. This strain has made attracting new employees from a uniquely specialized pool of ASL educators more difficult, even as our administration recognizes the need to attract diverse faculty and staff to better-serve our diverse student population. The impact of these decisions is felt most keenly by our students, who deserve a fully-funded school.

As the teachers, counselors, aides, and other dedicated people who have been asked to do more with less, year after year, we owe it to our students to demand a fully funded MSD.

We, the undersigned, demand that this year’s state budget for MSD include the following:

* Restore all steps for current employees that were skipped due to wage freezes over the past 15 years.

* Commit to fill vacant positions for teachers, aides, counselors, and other vacant positions at MSD.

* Commit to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce that reflects our student population.