Education Spending

Maryland spends on public education like a Saudi prince in Tiffany's. According to an analysis of data from the Annual Survey of State Government Finances from the U.S. Census Bureau, all education spending accounted for 47 percent of Maryland's total revenue in 2009, the most recent year available. Health spending, which is always cited as the monster in the state budget, ate 9 percent of total revenue in 2009. By comparison, public education represented 26 percent of total revenue in 2000.

The General Assembly has approved a tough new law that will require Maryland's counties and Baltimore to keep up a minimum level of education spending or risk having the state withhold part of their annual tax collections and ship the money directly to local school boards. The House of Delegates voted 93-44 on Friday to give final approval to the bill, sending it to Gov. Martin O'Malley, who said he will sign it. The Senate passed the bill last week. "While the state was investing more and more, the counties were investing less and less," O'Malley said Friday.

AS A PUBLIC SERVICE, here's a glossary to help follow the confusing efforts in Annapolis to weaken a law that guarantees steady local funding for education.Irony: County executives and their supporters in the legislature fighting to weaken the 10-year-old law that ensures "maintenance of effort" on education spending even as a clamor is heard across Maryland that more money, not less, should be spent on schools.Chutzpah: When county leaders argue that they can't afford to keep up with school enrollment growth because of a flat tax base, even though they argued a few months ago that the state of Maryland should do that very thing.

Maryland counties will face a loss of tax revenue if they fail to keep up their required levels of education spending under a deal agreed to by the Maryland House and Senate. The House Ways and Means Committee decided last night to accept the Senate version of a bill to enforce what is known as the state's "maintenance of effort" rule -- essentially a requirement that counties keep up their education spending to match increases in state aid. The vote in the panel was 12-5, along party lines, an indication the bill will have little difficulty passing in the full House.

WASHINGTON -- The Education Department has made public a back-to-school report that Education Secretary Lamar Alexander says would give a "heightened sense of urgency" to passage of President Bush's proposed education legislation.The report predicted record spending on education at all levels and an increased enrollment of children in preschool programs. But government officials said increased expenditures for each pupil had not translated into better educated students."Enrollment is up, spending is up, achievement is down," said Diane Ravitch, assistant secretary for the Office of Educational Research and Improvement.

The Maryland Senate approved a $1.3 billion plan to boost spending on schools yesterday -- funded in part by a cigarette tax increase -- after a threatened filibuster failed to materialize. The legislation would write into law most of the recommendations of the Thornton Commission, which urged the state to spend more on schools and to target the money to the poorest districts. The bill goes to the House, where it faces opposition from delegates who say it's too expensive. But supporters of the Senate plan say they're hopeful they can convince the House that passage is crucial to the future of Maryland's public schools.

The General Assembly has approved a tough new law that will require Maryland's counties and Baltimore to keep up a minimum level of education spending or risk having the state withhold part of their annual tax collections and ship the money directly to local school boards. The House of Delegates voted 93-44 on Friday to give final approval to the bill, sending it to Gov. Martin O'Malley, who said he will sign it. The Senate passed the bill last week. "While the state was investing more and more, the counties were investing less and less," O'Malley said Friday.

In an editorial yesterday, a reference to $6.1 billion in next year's budget should have included all education spending, not only for the No Child Left Behind law.

Maryland counties will face a loss of tax revenue if they fail to keep up their required levels of education spending under a deal agreed to by the Maryland House and Senate. The House Ways and Means Committee decided last night to accept the Senate version of a bill to enforce what is known as the state's "maintenance of effort" rule -- essentially a requirement that counties keep up their education spending to match increases in state aid. The vote in the panel was 12-5, along party lines, an indication the bill will have little difficulty passing in the full House.

State lawmakers have backed off a budget provision that called for freezing part of the landmark Thornton education funding plan in future years. A cross-chamber conference committee made the decision Monday after a legislative analyst said the move might jeopardize federal stimulus funding, which requires that states maintain certain levels of spending. Lawmakers are negotiating the final details of the nearly $14 billion annual operating budget and companion legislation that the General Assembly must adopt before it adjourns in a week.

A recent letter writer proclaims that "anyone who claims to be concerned about the deficit and doesn't want to raise taxes is either a fool or a fraud" ("Taxes and the deficit," April 8). With all due respect, our current national debt is over $14 trillion, an amount that equates to more than $45,000 for every living American man, woman and child. Our debt is crushing, and America's children are at risk. We're well beyond just raising taxes, and just raising taxes alone won't get us anywhere near where we need to be in the coming decades.

President Barack Obama's heart was in the right place when he made his Valentine's Day visit to a technology middle school in Parkville. Yet even as the president sought to encourage investment in education, the new spending plans of both the administration and House Republicans spell bad news for America's role as a knowledge and innovation leader. Maybe the word hasn't reached everyone in Washington, but the global innovation sweepstakes is definitely on, and the competition is brutal.

Maryland spends on public education like a Saudi prince in Tiffany's. According to an analysis of data from the Annual Survey of State Government Finances from the U.S. Census Bureau, all education spending accounted for 47 percent of Maryland's total revenue in 2009, the most recent year available. Health spending, which is always cited as the monster in the state budget, ate 9 percent of total revenue in 2009. By comparison, public education represented 26 percent of total revenue in 2000.

Maryland faces economic uncertainty, Gov. Martin O'Malley said Wednesday, but the state's innovations in green technology, health and cybersecurity leave it well-positioned to remain ahead of its peers. "Very few other states in the country have the edges we have now in innovation," O'Malley told more than 100 students and faculty members at Towson University in his first major address since winning re-election last week. "It's the thing that will allow us to be leaders. " Earlier in the day, analysts projected a $1.6 billion hole in the state budget, up from the $1.2 billion anticipated earlier in the fall.

Busloads of Baltimore schoolchildren, parents and teachers traveled to Annapolis late yesterday to decry education funding cuts under consideration as lawmakers search for ways to squeeze the state budget. "There are some things that are indispensable," said Rodney Burris, a parent with a child at Walter P. Carter Elementary School who spoke at a rally attended by about 500 people outside the State House. "Education for our children is one of those things." Education advocates singled out as particularly toxic a proposal that would allow local governments to slash education funding without suffering state penalties.

This week, Maryland legislators will consider some relatively modest education reform proposals from Gov. Martin O'Malley. These changes would improve Maryland's competitive position for a $250 million federal grant. But to win the Race to the Top grant -- and more importantly, to create a truly just an equitable education system -- Maryland must do a lot more. The recent Education Week report card on Maryland showed that the state has failed to do the reforms most suggested by research and supported by the Obama administration to close large, persistent student achievement gaps.

Busloads of Baltimore schoolchildren, parents and teachers traveled to Annapolis late yesterday to decry education funding cuts under consideration as lawmakers search for ways to squeeze the state budget. "There are some things that are indispensable," said Rodney Burris, a parent with a child at Walter P. Carter Elementary School who spoke at a rally attended by about 500 people outside the State House. "Education for our children is one of those things." Education advocates singled out as particularly toxic a proposal that would allow local governments to slash education funding without suffering state penalties.

Montgomery County senators won key changes last night to the Thornton Commission's recommendations for increased school funding, potentially clearing a major hurdle to approval of the legislation. Two Senate committees agreed to change the proposed school funding formula to give the county an extra $80 million annually within five years. Overall, the Thornton plan would go from $1.1 billion a year to almost $1.3 billion. "It certainly meets our needs," said Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan.

State lawmakers have backed off a budget provision that called for freezing part of the landmark Thornton education funding plan in future years. A cross-chamber conference committee made the decision Monday after a legislative analyst said the move might jeopardize federal stimulus funding, which requires that states maintain certain levels of spending. Lawmakers are negotiating the final details of the nearly $14 billion annual operating budget and companion legislation that the General Assembly must adopt before it adjourns in a week.

Maryland lawmakers are poised to adopt sweeping recommendations this year that eventually could lead to large funding increases for Maryland's public colleges. But critics say that now is not the time for legislators - already struggling to balance a budget swollen by mandatory education spending - to lay the foundation for other costly requirements. A House of Delegates committee will hold hearings today on a bill supported by Gov. Martin O'Malley and the legislature's fiscal leaders that would endorse a roughly $760 million blueprint for improving the quality and affordability of Maryland's colleges.