Education Funding

2020 kicked off to a hopeful start for children, teachers, and leaders in Baltimore, as yet another three new 21st Century Schools opened. By 2022, the 21st Century Schools initiative is pushing to replace school buildings in poor conditions by adding 28 new schools. 

Black and Brown students in Baltimore City deserve to reach their dreams without bearing the burden of inequitable education funding. Many of these students already are burdened by a long history of systemic racism, housing segregation, and economic discrimination that have fostered high rates of poverty, violence, and associated trauma in their communities. The State of Maryland must be held accountable for its failure to provide the necessary funding to deliver a quality education to all students.

1. The Heart of the Matter: EquityPutting equity into practice means that state resources must support students and districts impacted by opportunity gaps, achievement lags, and chronic underfunding.Members of the Workgroup must weave equity into every stage of the decision-making process, and students must be at the center of each consideration. This means the state must properly count students so that the Workgroup can design the formula to correctly provide the additional resources that each district needs. Additionally, accountability for the ways the state supports its successful implementation and specific measures for the range of equity factors (i.e. teacher retention practices targeting diverse representation, etc.) is a must. 2. The Richest Counties Are Still Getting the Most Education FundingAccording to Department of Legislative Services (DLS) and the Kirwan Commission’s own analysis, Maryland has a regressive education funding formula. The Maryland Center for Economic Policy found that more than half of students of color in Maryland attend underfunded schools, while the same is true for only 8% of white students. Rich counties receive more education funding than counties with low wealth despite "wealth equalization” measures in the formula. The ability of wealthy districts to contribute more local dollars to their school systems, beyond what is required by st

On November 12, the Appellate Court of Maryland dismissed a lawsuit brought on behalf of families with children in Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPSS) challenging the State’s chronic failure to provide sufficient funding to ensure the city’s students receive an adequate education.

On March 7, 2019, a group of concerned parents, joined by the ACLU of Maryland and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., returned to court to file a petition for further relief in the historic Bradford vs. Maryland State Board of Education lawsuit.