School Funding

Second of three parts   N o urban school system offers more hope than Baltimore's. Still, even if CEO Andrés Alonso stays the course (while fine-tuning it), city schools will need more resources. More must be done across the nation to fulfill, at long last, the legal and moral right of every poor child to a quality education. The best hope for the future lies in what I call a "New Education Federalism." Its foundation is a larger, more muscular role for the federal government.

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.

Harford County Executive David R. Craig misses the mark in his discussion of Maryland's Maintenance of Effort (MOE) law in his recent op-ed piece ("A school funding solution," June 21). Contrary to his arguments, the new law passed during the 2012 legislative session greatly enhances the ability of counties to fund a quality education for their children. As we entered the 2012 legislative session, loopholes in MOE were being widely exploited, severely jeopardizing the impressive gains in student achievement that our schools have made in recent years.

Editor: All citizens of Harford County should be dismayed by County Executive Craig's proposed FY2014 Budget. Despite his claims of being a life-long educator, despite Harford County taking in more revenue than ever before, County Executive Craig has once again shown his misplaced priorities and lack of dedication to our schools. I am disappointed that the County Executive has so little regard for the hardworking HCPS staff, our schools and our students. In February, over 500 school employees stood up for our schools.

It is more than unfortunate that Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold continues to imply that funding our school system is like throwing money into a bottomless abyss with absolutely no return on investment ("School funding mandate hurts counties," Jan. 19). There are certainly flaws with the state's maintenance of effort law, but the bigger problem in our county is Mr. Leopold's ongoing disparaging comments and his desire to control our school system in a dictatorial fashion.

Recently, Harford County engaged in a public conversation with its teachers about pay and classroom spending. This problem is not unique to Harford County and is symptomatic of a statewide problem caused by increased state mandates, lack of control over educational spending by the county's funding authorities and increased strain on public dollars in a down economy. On one side was the Harford County Education Association (HCEA), which represents the interests of teachers. They bemoaned that a county that is already spending half of every general fund dollar on K-12 education (this includes operating spending, debt service and other capital expenditures)

Republican former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. says he would chop $126 million in education funding that goes primarily to Baltimore and Montgomery and Prince George's counties and use the savings to offset a penny rollback to the state's sales tax. Ehrlich, who is campaigning to win back his old job, said Wednesday that he views spending the money as "discretionary" — a position similar to the one he held when in office. He would prefer to lower the state's sales tax to make it more competitive with Washington and Delaware and encourage consumer spending.

State education leaders have offered legislators their recommendations for fixing the state law that requires local governments to fund their public schools at a minimum level. The state's superintendents, teachers union and local school boards released a plan Tuesday that would tighten a law meant to require that counties fund their schools at the minimum per pupil amount that they did the year before. The law was weakened last legislative session, they say, and must be fixed. They want to ensure that governments do not decrease the money they spend on schools.

Gov. Martin O'Malley joined legislative leaders Friday in saying they will take action this General Assembly session to make county governments live up to their responsibility to fund public schools at a minimum level required under state law. Seven county governments in Maryland are failing to fund their schools this year at the minimum per-pupil amount they did the year before, according to preliminary state numbers. O'Malley said it does not make sense for state taxpayers to be spending billions more for education in the past decade while some counties are "defunding" their schools.

Maryland's 24 public school systems have been recognized once again by Education Week as the best in the nation. Maryland's boards of education, superintendents, teachers and students are clearly doing outstanding work from pre-kindergarten through high school graduation. Maryland students are being prepared to enter school ready to learn, given rigorous classroom instruction so that they are reading at grade level, achieving the high standards and goals set by the No Child Left Behind Act for proficiency for all students in reading, math and science, and entering the workforce and higher education ready for the challenges of the 21st century.

When it comes to public school funding, this is a time for appreciation — but not complacency. Gov. Martin O'Malley deserves thanks for trying once more to hold the line on aid to public schools in his proposed budget, and for making a commitment to school construction funding as well. Indeed, the governor has tried to maintain both capital and operating aid to public schools despite the global economic downturn that has seriously eroded state revenues during his Administration.

Public school districts across Maryland can now apply for state funding to reduce their energy consumption as part of a new $25 million "green schools initiative," the Maryland Energy Administration announced Wednesday. The effort is meant to help "accelerate" the state's goal of reducing its overall energy consumption by 15 percent in the next three years, the administration said. The funding will come from the state's capital budget for schools planning, the administration said.

Harford County Executive David R. Craig misses the mark in his discussion of Maryland's Maintenance of Effort (MOE) law in his recent op-ed piece ("A school funding solution," June 21). Contrary to his arguments, the new law passed during the 2012 legislative session greatly enhances the ability of counties to fund a quality education for their children. As we entered the 2012 legislative session, loopholes in MOE were being widely exploited, severely jeopardizing the impressive gains in student achievement that our schools have made in recent years.

Recently, Harford County engaged in a public conversation with its teachers about pay and classroom spending. This problem is not unique to Harford County and is symptomatic of a statewide problem caused by increased state mandates, lack of control over educational spending by the county's funding authorities and increased strain on public dollars in a down economy. On one side was the Harford County Education Association (HCEA), which represents the interests of teachers. They bemoaned that a county that is already spending half of every general fund dollar on K-12 education (this includes operating spending, debt service and other capital expenditures)

The Anne Arundel County Council approved a $1.2 billion annual operating budget Wednesday for the fiscal year that begins July 1. The budget, adopted 6-1, ends furloughs for county employees but does not include raises. For property owners, it creates approximately a 3-cent increase in the property tax rate, the maximum amount allowed by law. The coming year's 94.1-cent tax rate would mean, for example, that owner of a home assessed at $261,200 will pay about $128 more in property taxes, according to county finance officials.

The State Board of Education was right to reject Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold's attempt to evade the spirit of a law that prevents local jurisdictions from slacking off in their support for public schools. Protest though he might that he had done nothing wrong, Mr. Leopold's budget for the current fiscal year provided less money to support classroom education than in the year before, and had his effort been allowed to stand, that difference - amounting to about $12 million a year - would have been cemented into perpetuity.

While Maryland has been ratcheting up aid to local school systems, state education officials say that seven counties aren't paying their share and are failing to fund schools this year at the minimum level required under state law. Education advocates and state leaders say that school funding cuts by nearly one-third of the state's 24 local jurisdictions will undermine progress at public schools that have been repeatedly ranked as the nation's best....

There was the problem with homework: The little boy attended a school in the city, and there was a shortage of textbooks and duplicating supplies.So, every day the boy's teacher put homework assignments on the blackboard and it was the class' responsibility to copy the assignment.When the little boy came home from school his parents would ask, "Did you copy your assignment down?"And the boy would reply, "I forgot," or, "I didn't have time to get it all."And the little boy's parents would scold him or cajole him -- all in an attempt to encourage him to work harder.

Data-stream around Grandpa, youngsters 2.1 and 3.1, while he tells you about the time long, long ago when a certain elected official grew so nostalgic about a time even longer ago when Labor Day marked the beginning of the school year. Way back in the last millenium, people always knew that public schools started the day after Labor Day. Why begin classes that Tuesday? Well, probably because the school calendar was based on the farm calendar and the growing season. It might also have just been a convenient date.

No sooner had Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold unveiled his proposed budget for next year than Superintendent Kevin Maxwell was complaining that the schools were being shortchanged by $12 million. It was the latest salvo in a long-running feud between the two men over what it really means for the county to maintain its state requirements for school funding. It's not entirely clear which one is right about the law. But what is clear is that the General Assembly was right to approve legislation this year adding specificity and teeth to its maintenance of effort law. The argument between Messrs.