Funding

Government leaders are asking us to out-innovate, out-export and out-work our competitors in order for the United States to turn this economy around. But what if our own government was instituting policies that proved to be some of the biggest obstacles in achieving those goals? For more than four decades, I have dedicated my life to developing novel medical technologies, such as implantable insulin pumps, rechargeable implantable pacemakers, heart stents and more. These therapies have improved the health and saved the lives of millions of patients in America and throughout the world, and spurred the creation of tens of thousands of jobs.

The Baltimore school system ranked second among the nation's 100 largest school districts in how much it spent per pupil in fiscal year 2011, according to data released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau. The city's $15,483 per-pupil expenditure was second to New York City's $19,770. Rounding out the top five were Montgomery County, which spent $15,421; Milwaukee public schools at $14,244; and Prince George's County public schools, which spent $13,775. The Census Bureau also noted the first decrease in per-pupil spending nationally since 1977, the year the figures were first tracked.

Maryland is attempting to renege on its obligation to provide sufficient funding to make its historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) comparable and competitive with other public universities in Maryland in terms of mission, academic program offerings, library services, information technology infrastructure, and other facets of their operations. For five years, the state has vigorously opposed a lawsuit by HBCU students and alumni that seeks to dismantle remnants of the formerly segregated higher education system.

On Monday, May 6, the Harford Branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) held its fourth annual Food Fight, bringing together four chefs from around the region to compete in a cooking competition - one wherein each chef prepared, in one hour's time, an appetizer and entree from a basket of secret ingredients. For the first time, the event took place at the Vandiver Inn in Havre de Grace, where Susan, the inn's chef, offered her own version of the secret ingredients for viewers to purchase and enjoy.

It's time we as taxpayers take a long hard conscientious look at how our tax dollars are spent. The funding of Planned Parenthood must stop. It is a crime to think that Planned Parenthood holds itself out to be an organization that helps women. It is an abortion business receiving $1.1 billion tax dollars with $63 million left over after expenses. Planned Parenthood gets one-third of its annual budget from taxpayer funding, and it performed a total of more than 650,000 abortions in just 2008 and 2009 (the last years for which figures are available)

Gov. Martin O'Malley will ask for $350 million in school construction funds in next year's budget, an increase of $40 million, according to a spokeswoman. The governor will announce the funds Tuesday at morning event in Annapolis. He will be joined by House Speaker Michael E. Busch, who has been pushing for an aggressive capital budget to jolt construction jobs in the state. The backdrop for the event will be familiar: Germantown Elementary School in Annapolis. During the 2006 campaign, O'Malley held a news conference at the school to pledge $1 billion in funding if he was elected.

The ACLU of Maryland is calling for legislators to halt funding to religious and private schools, saying that taxpayer money should be put toward the state's funding obligation to public schools. In a release, the advocacy organization called a taxpayer subsidy of $500,000 slated to go to private schools next year "unfair. " The funding, included in the state's supplementary budget, was scheduled to be reviewed in the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday.  “Taxpayer funding should not be used for textbooks and technology at private and religious schools, especially when the state's fiscal climate that is just beginning to recover,” Sara Love, public policy director for the ACLU of Maryland, said in a statement.  The organization went on to say: "Our public funds should be dedicated to public schools.

Maryland should be proud of its educational system. We are home to some of the nation's highest performing schools, and our system ranks at the very top in several national studies and reports. That success is due to everyone - teachers, administrators, parents, and hard-working students. But let's not kid ourselves: Maryland also is home to some chronically underperforming schools. To turn around struggling classrooms, and provide a better future for children, we need options such as extending the school day that would target student learning head on. We should not be forced to fund programs that aren't working.

I am delighted to read that the Komen Foundation has withdrawn its funding from Planned Parenthood ("Komen's attack on abortion rights," Feb. 2). Now when I see those ubiquitous pink ribbons on so many products in the stores, including many of my family's favorite foods, I'll know I'm not clandestinely supporting the murder of unborn children. It's about time! Mary Healy, Kingsville

Federal and state leaders are launching an effort to win funding for a statewide hot line to help connect Marylanders with health and human service. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski has requested $800,000 to make the state's 211 hot line pilot program permanent and is co-sponsoring a bill that would provide dedicated funding for such services nationwide. Gov. Martin O'Malley, Comptroller Peter Franchot and United Way of Central Maryland President Larry Walton joined Mikulski to announce the effort to secure federal funding at the call center in Baltimore on Monday.

Members of Camp Likeness Riders, a local motorcycle enthusiasts club, held a car wash May 4 at Joe's Crab Shack in Abingdon to raise funds for the homeless animals at the Humane Society of Harford County. The group of animal lovers presented the shelter with $200.

The Maryland Center for Veterans Education and Training's Baltimore complex is full of neatly made beds and shining-clean floors, a military-like environment for homeless former service members working to get their lives back on track. Its executive director, a retired Navy lieutenant, would love to expand the nonprofit so he can take in families — children as well as their veteran parent. But as David T. Clements works to pin down new funding for that effort, he's worried about the money he's already got. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recently warned the center to expect a cut in grant funding of more than 3.5 percent, which Clements said would hit late next year.

Gov. Martin O'Malley on Thursday signed a gun-control bill that is among the country's most sweeping legislative responses to the December mass shooting in Newtown, Conn. The law bans the sale of assault-style rifles, including the AR-15 used in the Newtown killing of six educators and 20 first- and second-graders. The law limits gun ownership for people with mental illness, outlaws the sale of high-capacity magazines and establishes the nation's first new handgun licensing scheme in two decades.

Twenty-four graduating high school student-athletes, representing Harford County's 12 senior classes, will be honored at the 28th Annual Al Cesky Scholarship Fund's (ACSF) awards banquet Wednesday at the Richlin Ballroom, beginning at 6 p.m. Tickets are $40 each, with a student price of $35. Call 410-838-6787 or visit http://www.alceskyscholarhsip.org for more information. Two of the scholarship winners, one male and one female, will receive scholarship awards amounting to $5,000 each from the ACSF to help defray the cost of their post-secondary education.

Morton "Jerry" Baum, founder and executive director of the Fund for Educational Excellence and a retired clothing manufacturing executive who was a tireless champion of city public schools, died May 5 from complications of Parkinson's disease at his Roland Park home. He was 87. "I first met Jerry in the 1980s when he was executive director of the Fund for Educational Excellence," said Brian C. Rogers, chairman of T. Rowe Price, who had served as a member of the organization's board.

Government leaders are asking us to out-innovate, out-export and out-work our competitors in order for the United States to turn this economy around. But what if our own government was instituting policies that proved to be some of the biggest obstacles in achieving those goals? For more than four decades, I have dedicated my life to developing novel medical technologies, such as implantable insulin pumps, rechargeable implantable pacemakers, heart stents and more. These therapies have improved the health and saved the lives of millions of patients in America and throughout the world, and spurred the creation of tens of thousands of jobs.

Thanks for calling attention to the fact that now is the time for our elected leaders to rise above political self-interest and make the difficult choices that are in our nation's best interest ("Supercommittee: Split the difference," Nov. 14). I agree that committee members must learn to compromise. But no matter which side of the aisle our elected officials are on, there is one thing that absolutely must not be compromised: Fighting cancer. Today, there are nearly 12 million cancer survivors.

Regardless of the Maryland Stadium Authority's decision ("Scarce funding imperils tennis center," July 21), the county should not spend precious taxpayer dollars on yet another unnecessary sports stadium. Time and time again proponents of these structures promise revenue and jobs. Inevitably, the project comes in over budget and predicted financial benefits and job growth never happen. Both academic and mainstream literature abounds with studies and stories proving these projects only drain money from public treasuries while they line the pockets of the wealthy.

Superstorm Sandy barely laid a glove on Smith Island last fall, to hear residents tell it. Though storm-driven flooding damaged hundreds of homes in Crisfield and the rest of Somerset County, only a couple islanders got any water in their homes from the surging Chesapeake Bay. Yet with the island slowly shrinking and sinking into the bay, the state is considering using $2 million of the federal storm recovery aid it's received so far to buy out...

T. Rowe Price lost another one of its fund managers, the third this year. Friday was the last day for Joseph M. Milano, 40, who has been the manager of Price's New America Growth Fund since 2002, said spokesman Brian Lewbart. Milano, who joined the Baltimore-based money manager in 1996 as an associate analyst, only recently informed Price of his plans to leave. "He let us know he was leaving the firm to pursue other investment management opportunities, most likely on his own," Lewbart said.