NOTTINGHAM, MD—The Teachers Association of Baltimore County on Thursday responded to County Executive Johnny Olszewski’s veto of the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance, a bill to help prevent school overcrowding which was passed by the County Council earlier this month.

TABCO has issued the following statement:

Class size matters. Overcrowded schools and large class size can be detrimental for our students. TABCO had a seat on the original APFO taskforce and TABCO supported the bill. We were excited that Councilmen Patoka, Marks, Ertel, and Kach put the bill forward, and we are disappointed to hear that the County Executive did not sign the APFO bill.

We understand that robust development is important for all counties and Baltimore County is no exception. However, it simply cannot continue at the expense of our students and their success. We have spoken with the County Executive about the need for the APFO bill to be adjusted, and more importantly, to be passed, so that none of our students are in overcrowded schools. We look forward to working with the County Council, County Executive, and BCPS leadership in this work.

Councilman David Marks and the Baltimore County Republican Party have also blasted the veto, which the County Council could override the veto with five votes