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Bradford v. Maryland

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Commission on Education Finance, Equity and Excellence

In 1996 the State of Maryland, the City of Baltimore and the ACLU of Maryland representing the Bradford plaintiffs entered into a consent decree that completely restructured the governing structure of the Baltimore City Public School System (BCPSS). This agreement also guaranteed $30 million in additional funding for the city schools in fiscal year 1998 and an additional $50 million for each of the next four fiscal years. At the time, all sides agreed that this “Partnership Agreement” would be revisited in five years to determine its effectiveness.

Anticipating this re-evaluation, and with a goal of examining school funding statewide, the General Assembly established the Commission on Education Finance, Equity and Excellence, House Bill 10, in the spring of 1999. More commonly known today as the Thornton Commission, after its chairman, Dr. Alvin Thornton, this group was tasked with evaluating the State’s education finance system and accountability measures.

At the same time, consistent with the consent decree, BCPSS and the ACLU worked to develop a Remedy Plan of needs, which called for an additional $265 million in funding for the City school system.  Shortly afterwards, an independent consultant (Metis Associates) found that the BCPSS needed $2700 more per pupil, for adequacy.

The Remedy Plan, per the consent decree was presented to the Governor during the 2000 session, but only an additional $8 million was allocated for the City schools for following year’s budget. Considering the small increase to be a violation of the 1996 agreement, the BCPSS and ACLU went back to court in the late spring of 2000, arguing that the State needed to provide substantial additional funding to City schools for staff and programs to reach constitutional adequacy.

Click HERE to see the ACLU’s 2000 filing.

Circuit Court Judge Joseph H. H. Kaplan (who had also made the initial ruling in 1996) sided with the ACLU and BCPSS, ordering that an additional $2,000 - $2,600 in funding per child was needed from the State. In aggregate terms, this amount was roughly equal to the $265 million request from the Remedy Plan. In his ruling, Judge Kaplan also found that the State was not doing its part to meet the financial responsibilities it had taken on under the Partnership Agreement.

Click HERE to see Judge Kaplan’s 2000 opinion.

Dealing and Waiting

The next year was filled with anticipation, as the Thornton Commission continued its work, while the State appealed Judge Kaplan’s ruling.  The State, however, dropped its appeal in January 2001.  With no appeal or further ruling, Judge Kaplan’s decision was left as the legal and binding order of the case.

Instead of moving to enforce the order BCPSS agreed to an additional $12 million (for a total of $20 million) “Remedy Plan” appropriation.  This one-year agreement was made in anticipation of the upcoming Thornton Commission report.

The Commission Reports Back

After meeting for over two years, the Thornton Commission gave its final recommendations on January 18, 2002. In a 350-page report, the commission found that an additional $1.8 billion would be needed to be phased in between fiscal years 2002 and 2007 to provide a constitutionally adequate education in every Maryland public school. To enhance the impact of these budget increases, the commission also recommended that the number of state aid programs be reduced from 50 to four (a foundation program and one each for three special needs populations.)  Acknowledging that this statewide funding increase would need to be equitably distributed, the commission suggested creating a Guaranteed Tax Base program, which would provide additional funds to poorer jurisdictions based upon their local wealth and local attempts to raise money for education.

The commission’s findings also included a recommendation for a new funding formula that incorporated a Geographic Cost of Education Index (GCEI). This index was to be designed to internalize the external factors that affect each county in Maryland.  For example, certain counties have higher housing costs which impact teacher salaries, or greater poverty, which impacts school working conditions.  Therefore, using the GCEI would ensure that districts with unique characteristics would be appropriately funded.

Click HERE to read the Thornton Commission’s Final Report          

The General Assembly’s Turn

Once the final report came out, a bill to implement the recommendations was filed in the General Assembly.  At the same time, the ACLU worked with Baltimore City parents, students and others who supported the Thornton findings to write thousands of letters to legislators and the governor, urging them to fully implement Thornton’s funding recommendations.

Senate Bill 856, ultimately called for $1.3 billion in additional statewide education funding to be phased in over six years, with a projected $258 million of that going to Baltimore City schools.  “The Bridge to Excellence in Public Schools Act”, Senate Bill 856, was signed into law by the governor on May 6, 2002.

Click HERE to read a copy of SB 856
Click HERE to read the ACLU Press Releases.

http://mlis.state.md.us/2002rs/billfile/SB0856.htm        

The act stipulated that school officials must create and use an updated GCEI when calculating school funding for districts. It also said that additional money should be available for school systems viewed as “high cost” starting in the budget for fiscal year 2004.

Linking Bradford and Thornton

While the Bradford case and the Thornton Commission dealt with nearly identical issues, the two were not explicitly linked until June 2002, when Judge Kaplan extended his court’s oversight of the Bradford case beyond the original five-year timeline. This move ensured that the ACLU would have a legal route available if the legislature did not meet its funding commitments under the Bridge to Excellence in Public Schools Act.

Click HERE to read Judge Kaplan’s 2002 Order.

To find out more about the continued campaign to secure promised education funding, click HERE.

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