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For Northwestern High School teacher Jeanne Mignon, the Prince George's County school system's $1.64 billion budget is symbolized by a package of printer paper.

At a County Council budget hearing Tuesday, Mignon held up the pack of paper, which she said was donated by her husband because she does not have enough paper at her school to make copies of the documents she needs for her students.

"There's a point where the public cannot continue to criticize education and keep expecting us to cut back and back and back," said Mignon, who teaches English at the Hyattsville school.

Mignon was one of about 40 teachers — some of whom graded papers as they listened to testimony — who attended the hearing in an effort to prevent further school system budget cuts. The teachers who spoke asked the council not to eliminate the $23.6 million from the county schools' budget even if the state does grant a "maintenance of effort" waiver that would allow them to do so.

Under state law, counties are required to provide at least the same amount of funding for the school system as the previous year unless they get a waiver from the state.

County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) applied in March for the waiver, which would allow the county to cut $23.6 million from the school system's budget if granted. The state is expected to announce by Friday if the waiver was approved.

The school board already trimmed $36 million from the school system's operating budget during its budget process, which ended in February, due to declining revenue.

Mignon told the council about the successes of her students and urged the council not to cut the school system's funding.

In an interview after the meeting, Mignon said the paper was a symbol of the lack of resources that Prince George's County teachers have to do their jobs.

Mignon said the county cannot "keep eliminating resources that make the job doable and expect to get the same results."

Bryan Bucklin, a special education teacher at Arrowhead Elementary in Upper Marlboro, argued that the county should dip into its reserves to pay for the funding the school system needs. The county government is expected to have $167 million in reserves next fiscal year, or about 6.5 percent of the county's budget. The county is required by its charter to keep 5 percent in savings, but county policy in the past has been to keep 7 percent of its budget in savings.

"By cutting positions, we're going to lead to possibly higher class sizes, which leads to less school improvement over time," Bucklin said.

County Council members argued that they have no way to raise additional revenue without approval from the county's voters and that other sources of taxes, such as sales tax, are controlled at the state level, not the county level. Due to a county charter amendment, county officials cannot raise local tax rates without voter approval.

When one speaker argued that the county should worry more about its children than its bond rating, Councilwoman Camille Exum (D-Dist. 7) of Capitol Heights responded that maintaining a bond rating is essentially the same as a household or individual trying to maintain a personal credit score, and it is necessary to borrow money. Last June, county officials held a rally to celebrate the county earning a AAA bond rating from one of three rating agencies, the highest credit rating possible that allows the county to borrow money at a lower cost.

Exum also argued it would be "wholly irresponsible" for the council to spend its reserves on operating expenses.

Councilman Samuel H. Dean (D-Dist. 6) of Mitchellville said the budget situation was a "teaching moment," drawing chortles from the teachers in the audience.

"This local government does not have the authority to raise taxes, period. We have to get authority to raise taxes from the state," Dean said.

Dean said the County Council does not have the leeway that President Barack Obama does with the federal government's budget.

"He can print money, and we cannot," Dean said. "We have to have a balanced budget, and that's what we're faced with coming up in the next month."

The County Council is expected to adopt the county's budget May 27.

E-mail Megan King at mking@gazette.net.