Kirwan Commission Approves Public School Funding Formula

A state panel made up of lawmakers, educators and state and local officials has recommended a new funding formula for public schools.

The Kirwan Commission's additional $4 billion worth of reforms would be phased in over 10 years with state taxpayers picking up nearly $2.8 billion or 70 percent of the cost, and Baltimore City and the state's 23 counties picking up nearly $1.2 billion, or nearly 30 percent of the cost.

It would be up to state lawmakers and local officials to decide how to pay for this additional money, which would fund pay raises for teachers, pre-K programs and other reforms.

The commission voted Tuesday morning to give Baltimore City and the 23 counties in Maryland five years to fund their portion of the cost.

Baltimore City would be required to pay an additional nearly $330 million to fund its share.

Bryan Nehman reports:

Del. Maggie McIntosh, D-Baltimore City, the House Appropriations Committee chairman, said the city and the counties could do so.

Gov. Larry Hogan said he would not support any tax hikes to help local governments produce the funding.

His political action committee is raising money to launch a media campaign against any tax hike.

“Education is my top priority, which is why we have provided historically high funding five years in a row, created a lockbox to require an additional $4.4 billion investment into our schools, and proposed a $2 billion school construction investment—the largest in Maryland history. No governor has ever invested more in our schools." Hogan said in a written statement issued after the meeting.

“I have tremendous respect for Dr. Kirwan and have supported many of his well-meaning recommendations, some of which can be phased in over the next several years. Unfortunately, the Kirwan Tax Hike Commission is hellbent on spending billions more than we can afford, and legislators are refusing to come clean about where the money is going to come from. Even after more than three years of meetings, there is still no clear plan whatsoever for how either the state or the counties will pay this massive price tag.

“We cannot recklessly expand the state’s deficit to $18.7 billion, as these proposals require. And we will not impose billions in crippling state and local tax increases on Marylanders.

“Our students, parents, and teachers deserve more accountability and better outcomes, not pie-in-the-sky unfunded spending proposals, Hogan added”

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Maggie McIntosh, who sits on the panel, says state tax hikes can be avoided.

McIntosh said legalizing recreational marijuana and sports gambling could help prevent tax hikes to help pay for the reforms.

This morning, McIntosh, who represents Baltimore City says Baltimore City and the counties will have to spend more for education, and she is confident they will do that.

Two Republicans on the panel Budget Secretary David Brinkley and Harford County Executive Barry Glassman, abstained from voting.

Both expressed concerns about the cost of the reforms to local governments.

Glassman serves on the panel as he is also president of the Maryland Association of Counties.

The reforms were endorsed by the Maryland State Education Association (MSEA), the state's largest teachers union, whose chief lobbyist, Sean Johnson, sits on the panel.

"Today represents a very significant step in our efforts to create lasting educational equity and a fairer and more prosperous future for our state. These recommendations are a pathway to expanding career and technical education programs, hiring more educators, increasing educator pay, and more equitably funding our public schools," said MSEA President Cheryl Bost in a statement after the meeting.

"We look forward to working with the General Assembly in the coming months to build on these recommendations and pass a new funding formula to ensure that every student in every neighborhood has a great public school. We need to act during the 2020 legislative session because our kids can't wait."

The commission is named for its chairman, former University of Maryland System Chancellor William "Britt" Kirwan.

The panel's recommendations will go to the Maryland General Assembly which is expected to determine how to pay for these reforms during the legislative session that begins in January.

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