Governor’s Budget Proposal Shorts Public Schools by $140 Million

Gov. Hogan’s budget proposal for the 2022–2023 budget year underfunds public schools by $140 million, adding one more entry to the governor’s record of shortchanging education. The largest piece of the proposed cut exclusively hits Prince George’s County and Baltimore City, which together serve 24% of all Maryland students but 45% of the state’s Black students. These cuts undermine the goals of the historic Blueprint for Maryland’s Future school funding reform and likely also violate the letter of the law.

At the same time, Gov. Hogan has proposed $224 million in new tax breaks (increasing to $778 million per year by the 2027 budget year) that will primarily benefit wealthy individuals and business owners. The General Assembly should reject the $126 million in cuts that likely violate the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future legislation and work to secure funding for the remaining $14 million in unfunded priorities.

The biggest education cut in Gov. Hogan’s budget proposal is the Education Effort Adjustment, a funding stream created in the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future plan to support counties whose local school funding responsibilities are highest in comparison to their fiscal capacity. The governor’s refusal to fund this program costs Baltimore City Schools $99 million and Prince George’s County schools $27 million. Continuing to underfund these school districts will particularly harm Maryland’s Black students and other students of color:

• 77% of Baltimore City students are Black and 92% are students of color.
• 54% of Prince George’s County students are Black and 96% are students of color
• Taken together, 24% of students in the remainder of the state are Black and 55% are students of color.

If lawmakers accepted this cut, it would continue the state’s history of shortchanging schools that serve large numbers of Black students. During the 2016–2017 school year, more than half of Black students in Maryland went to school in a district that was underfunded by at least 15% compared to already-outdated funding standards, while only about one in eight white students attended a school district this deeply underfunded. Ending this injustice is one goal of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, and accepting these cuts would be a big step in the wrong direction.

Fortunately, lawmakers likely have the power to force full funding of the Education Effort Adjustment. The legislature’s staff of experts argue that this funding is required under the Blueprint law, under which the state “shall distribute” the Education Effort Adjustment to local school boards. Gov. Hogan may have vetoed the Blueprint when it originally passed in 2020, but that veto was defeated – he can’t pick and choose which parts of the law to obey. Without additional legislation repealing the mandate – which the governor has not proposed – the governor will likely have little choice but to provide the required funding.

The same cannot be said for the other $14 million in education cuts in the governor’s budget, primarily statewide programs to train and support staff in successfully implementing the far-reaching Blueprint reforms:

• Blueprint Training for Teachers and Leaders ($7 million)
• State Model Curriculum and Instructional Materials ($3 million)
• Expert Review Team ($1 million)
• National Board Certification Support ($1 million)
• Career and Technical Education Committee and Skills Board ($1 million)
• Behavioral Health Training ($1 million)
• College and Career Readiness Equating Study ($1 million)

Underinvesting in public schools is never a smart choice because it makes Maryland a less attractive place to live today and harms our future economic growth. These cuts are especially egregious in a year in which the state has an unprecedented $4 billion budget surplus, and while the governor is calling for $224 million in lopsided tax cuts (which will cost several times as much in future years). It has never been clearer that we can afford to provide a great education for all Maryland students. The question is, what are our priorities?