CLICK HERE FOR OUR FULL ANALYSIS OF THE DRAFT REPORT ON STATE EDUCATION FUNDING ADEQUACY
For more than two years, Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) research consultants have been studying the adequacy of the state education funding formula. This month, the consultants released their much anticipated draft final report. Clocking in at 371 pages, the full report includes recommendations on everything from per pupil spending and calculating a jurisdiction's wealth, to universal full-day pre-k and the Geographic Cost of Education Index.
Built into the current state education funding law, the Bridge to Excellence Act of 2002, was a requirement to reassess the adequacy of the formula a decade later. Though legislators kicked the can down the road in 2012, the state hired consultants Augenblick, Palaich and Associates, Inc. (APA) and a few other associated consultant groups in 2014 to begin the review. The ACLU served on a Stakeholder Advisory Group to give input during the last two years. After producing a number of sub-studies and interim reports logging their progress, the consultants released a draft of their final report in October 2016. The new Commission for Innovation and Excellence in Education (or, "Kirwan" Commission) will take APA's study, get additional public input, and make recommendations about any changes to the formula in their final report, due December 2017
