Teachers grade piles of papers every day at school, but what about at the mall?

Over 300 county teachers gathered at three Montgomery County malls May 14 for a “Grade In” event to advocate against more cuts in funding for public schools.

The Montgomery County Education Association, the MCPS teacher union, organized the rallies at Montgomery Mall, Lakeforest Mall and Wheaton Plaza Mall. Around 100 teachers at each mall graded students’ papers while wearing purple T-shirts with the slogan “Teacher at Work” to publicize the hard work they must do to keep up with the rising number of students attending county schools.

The “Grade In” comes at an important time, as the Montgomery County Council will vote May 20 on next year’s school budget.

“We’re bringing attention to the fact that teachers actually devote much more of their time to teaching than just what you see during the regular workday,” said William Ring, a social studies teacher at Rockville High School. “Our work outside of school is essentially a free gift to taxpayers and to students, and when they cut us back like this, it’s as though that doesn’t happen.”

Similar “Grade In” events have taken place in several different states including New Jersey, Wisconsin and Michigan, but Saturday’s event was the largest of such movement yet.

MCPS’ current 2011 budget is about $2.3 billion, MCEA president Doug Prouty said. The recommended 2012 budget is just under $2.2 billion, despite the expected 3,300 new students attending county schools next year.

“The overall goal here is to remind the public of the value of public schools and to encourage the public to contact the County Council and ask them to better fund the school system,” Prouty said.

Many teachers are concerned that further budget cuts could cause reductions in school staff positions, cuts in teacher healthcare benefits and other issues for public educators and students, said counselor Jennifer Higgins, Whitman’s MCEA representative.

“Almost anything that negatively affects educators will also affect students,” Higgins said. “When we look at the budget cuts the county Council proposed initially, we see that they’re trying to balance the budget on the backs of educators. There needs to be some way to work this budget out so that students and teachers aren’t taking as much of a hit.”

The increased amount of work due to rising class sizes has also left many teachers feeling upset and undercompensated, Ring said.

“We are working harder than ever just to stay afloat,” Ring said. “The point is, the County Council is getting more than what they’re paying for, and eventually, we’re going to choke on the work we have to do. When you destroy people’s morale, more people leave the profession.”