News & Commentary
Criminalizing Poverty: Why We Need to Stop Punishing Students from Families with Low Income
Are We There Yet? 5 Observations on the Road to Updating Maryland’s Education Funding Formula
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
By Kimberly Humphrey, Esq.
Baltimore City Schools: Protect Trans Children — Pass Policy JBB
Poster created by students in Wide Angle Youth Media in collaboration with GLSEN Maryland, The Office of Mayor Catherine E. Pugh and the Baltimore City LGBTQ Commission. Supported by the Open Society Institute-Baltimore.
By Nicole McCann
2 WEEKS TO GO! Education Legislative Updates
The “Blueprint for Maryland’s Future” (HB1413/SB1030) bill is the first action on recommendations from the Kirwan Commission. The bill as introduced includes funding for expanding pre-kindergarten, increasing teacher salaries, and providing grants for concentrated poverty and special education. The ACLU testified in support of this bill, urging state legislators to develop a targeted and comprehensive formula which is the only way to seriously begin to combat decades of gross underfunding for students and families. As of now, the Kirwan “Blueprint” bill is pending the results of the State Budget process. Currently, the House and Senate versions of the budget (SB125/HB100) do not match. Only the House version of the budget funds the entire Kirwan “Bluep
MAREE Responds to Kirwan Commission’s ‘Blueprint’
This piece originally appeared at in the Afro.
Students in Baltimore Also Have Dreams
Deshawna Bryant, a senior at Baltimore City High School, dreams of becoming a child psychologist. The youngest in her family, all her life Deshawna’s parents opened their home and hearts to many foster children, too. After high school, she plans on going to a university in Florida, and a big reason why is that it’s warm there all year round.
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