Maryland school districts will have to drop programs, cut staff and skimp on other projects unless the state fully funds the Thornton plan, school boards and child advocates say.
Thornton supporters plan to lobby state lawmakers during next week?s special session of the General Assembly to reject Gov. Martin O?Malley?s proposal to freeze inflation increases for the school-funding plan.
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O?Malley wants to drop the inflation increase for two years and then reduce it in the third year to help offset a $1.7 billion state budget deficit.
“All 24 school systems experienced inflation and sometimes unexpectedly high rates of inflation for fuel, electricity, health benefits and facility costs, so we will continue to vigorously advocate for full funding of Thornton,” said John Woolums, director of governmental relations for the Maryland Association of Boards of Education.
Schools, he said, face increasingly high standards with High School Assessments and the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
“Students deserve the concerted efforts of legislators to find a way to find some increase in state aid over the next two years,” Woolums said. “We want to avoid having to choose between educational benefits and the cost of doing business.”
Without inflation increases, Baltimore City schools could lose $22.6 million and Baltimore County $19.5 million, according to an analysis from the American Civil Liberties Union, which has also criticized O?Malley?s budget plan as reneging on legislation passed five years ago.
The Maryland Coalition of Excellent Schools, a collection of education associations, points out that this is the first school year students will receive the fully mandated level of funding, which was phased in over six years.
“Thus, many of the reforms and support systems designed to enhance student achievement are only now being implemented and can be expected to bear fruit in coming years,” Clara Floyd, president of the Maryland State Teachers Association, wrote to O?Malley on behalf of the coalition.
For impoverished school systems, “the blow will be particularly harsh,” she added.
The Thornton plan was intended to close the equity gap between wealthy and poor jurisdictions by having the state invest more in needy schools.
The plan will have pumped an unprecedented $3.5 billion of state aid into local school districts by the end of the next fiscal year.
A closer look
Gov. Martin O?Malley wants to drop the inflation increase for school funding for two years and then reduce it in the third year to help offset a $1.7 billion state budget deficit.
