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About the Education Reform Project
Bradford v. Maryland
Thornton Commission
The Continued Campaign for Funding
School Facilities
Other Issues
Documents

Education Reform Project

Thousands of children in Maryland attend schools that lack sufficient funding, certified teachers and facilities that are conducive to learning. Since 1987, the ACLU of Maryland has been an advocate for the proposition that the State Constitution guarantees all children in Maryland — including the most disadvantaged and educationally at-risk — an adequate education. Guided by this belief, the Education Reform Project of the ACLU of Maryland works with students, parents, community groups and policy makers to ensure that the children of Baltimore City and Maryland are receiving the quality and level of schooling they are constitutionally guaranteed.

Bradford v. Maryland State Board of Education

The foundation of the Education Reform Project’s current legal work is Bradford v. Maryland State Board of Education, a 1994 lawsuit brought by the ACLU and its attorneys, on behalf of at-risk schoolchildren and their parents. This suit resulted in a “partnership agreement,” which required increased funding from the state and management reform of the City school system.

For more information about Bradford v. Maryland State Board of Education, including a timeline and judicial decisions click HERE.

The Bradford suit brought an initial amount of increased funding and school reform, but Baltimore schools still had a long way to go. To try and increase these gains, the ACLU went back to court in 2000, arguing that adequate progress could not take place in the City schools until they were allotted additional funding. At the same time, a study by an independent consultant     agreed, saying schools needed an additional $2,700 per pupil to provide resources for children to meet state standards. Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Joseph H. H. Kaplan agreed with this argument, and in June of 2000 ruled that Baltimore City school children needed an additional $2,000 - $2,600 per pupil from the State, or approximately $200-$260 million, in order to provide an adequate education.

Thornton and The Bridge to Excellence in Education

While the ACLU was advocating for additional funding, state legislators were looking for a way to evaluate statewide public school funding. The solution was to create the Commission on Education Finance, Equity and Excellence, more commonly known as “Thornton,” after its chair, Dr. Alvin Thornton.

The commission was tasked with evaluating the adequacy and equity of funding for all public schools in Maryland.  Using the commission’s findings, the State authorized an additional $1.3 billion for statewide educational funding under the 2002 Bridge to Excellence in Public Schools Act. This act calls for the money to be phased in over six-years, with full funding slated for fiscal year 2008.

CLICK HERE to read more about the Thornton Commission and the status of the funding under the Bridge to Excellence in Public Schools.

School Facilities

The ACLU of Maryland believes that students cannot receive a “thorough and efficient” education without adequate school facilities. The State of Maryland has a documented $4 billion backlog of construction needs, $600 million of which is for Baltimore City alone. At the current rate of funding it will take decades to complete all of these projects. To that end, the ACLU advocates for increased funding to remedy health and safety problems, commissioned studies to measure the impact of poor facilities on student achievement and looks for creative ways to generate additional revenue at the local and state level.

For more information about Maryland’s school facilities, click HERE.

Other Education Issues

The Education Reform Project works on a number of other issues as well, including high stakes assessments and students’ rights. To learn more about these issues, click HERE.

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