Maryland’s Children Have Waited Long Enough: Lawmakers Must Override Gov. Hogan’s Veto and Invest in World-Class Schools
As Maryland scrambles to respond to a public health crisis and economic crisis, children and educators are also dealing with the ongoing crisis of deeply underfunded public schools. Three-quarters of Maryland school districts were underfunded by the state’s existing standards as of 2017, and more than half of Black students went to school in a district that was underfunded by more than 15 percent – even as higher academic expectations have rendered this standard inadequate. The General Assembly passed legislation earlier this year that would have revamped Maryland’s public school system and invested more in our children’s future. But Gov. Hogan vetoed the bill, denying children the world-class education they deserve. Lawmakers should act quickly – during a special legislative session, if they convene one this year, or during the 2021 regular session – to override the governor’s veto and strengthen schools across the state.
The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future calls for evidence-backed reforms like expanded prekindergarten, bringing teacher salaries up to the level of comparable professions, shoring up our support for special education and students’ mental health, and strengthening our investments in high-quality career and technical education. One of the bill’s most promising provisions would fund additional supports in schools that serve students in the highest-poverty neighborhoods – an important first step to improve educational opportunities for children forced by racially discriminatory policies to grow up in under-resourced neighborhoods. The bill could have gone further in guaranteeing robust supports for the students who face the greatest obstacles, but nevertheless represents a major improvement from the status quo.
Gov. Hogan’s veto was an attempt to erase these reforms altogether, locking in our current, under-resourced system for the foreseeable future. This decision is in line with the governor’s longstanding agenda of blocking new investments in public schools, diverting public funding to private and religious schools, and prioritizing tax breaks for the powerful few.
Fortunately, the legislature has the opportunity to override Gov. Hogan’s veto and continue moving children forward. They must act, as Maryland children have already waited far too long. The 2002 law that established our current school funding system called for a 10-year review of the state’s funding formula to begin in 2012. The state began that process in 2014, two years late. The Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education (the Kirwan Commission) developed a strong reform agenda to provide Maryland children a world-class education, but they released their final plan two years later than expected – with additional implementation delays. Maryland children currently benefit from the partial reforms lawmakers passed in 2018 and 2019, but this year’s Blueprint for Maryland’s Future is the final step to put us on a track toward the school system our children deserve. Gov. Hogan’s veto will now force them to wait another year or more.
There is no question that the pandemic and economic crisis have put Maryland in circumstances unlike any in recent history. Investing in world-class schools will shore up our economy in the short term as well as lay the groundwork for our long-term prosperity. Asking Maryland children to wait longer would be a grave mistake.
