A doomsday budget for our schools?

Published: Wed, 04/11/12

A doomsday budget for our schools?

Good morning !

The Maryland State Education Association has asked us to pass this message along to our subscribers.

April 9 was supposed to be the final day of the legislative session. But the clock struck midnight before the legislature acted on important components of the budget that would protect state funding for our schools in the coming year. If the legislature fails to reconvene to address this, it will trigger a so-called "doomsday budget" that will mean more than $200 million in cuts to school funding next year, including $13 million in Anne Arundel County. Click here to urge the Governor and the General Assembly to get back to work and fix this unfinished business before our children, families, and schools suffer.   

What would this doomsday budget mean for our schools? Per pupil aid for every student in Maryland would be cut by more than $100. That's fewer programs, services, resources, and assistance for each and every child in our schools. The Geographic Cost of Education Index, a critical component of Thornton education funding, would be eliminated, resulting in $128 million in cuts spread out across Baltimore City and Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Calvert, Carroll, Charles, Frederick, Howard, Kent, Montgomery, Prince George's, Queen Anne's, and St. Mary's Counties. And we'd see the elimination of other funding that aims to improve teacher quality.

  And it's not just our schools that will see cuts--there would also be hundreds of millions in cuts to local libraries, law enforcement, higher education, and much more if legislators don't fix their unfinished business.  

This session, legislators came very close to solving a complicated state budget puzzle. Tell Governor O'Malley and your senators and delegates to come back and finish the job rather than forcing cuts to schools, jobs, and critical services Marylanders depend on.

Thanks for taking the time to learn about this important issue.

All the best and see you around the County,

John W. Frenaye, Jr

Publisher

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