Baltimore Education Coalition Statement on Mayor Pugh, Del. McIntosh Presentation on Fixing City Schools' Budget Gap

Annapolis

–Today, Mayor Catherine Pugh and Chair of Appropriations Delegate Maggie McIntosh presented their progress in finding additional revenue to fix City Schools’ budget gap. They described a funding package that would allocate approximately $180 million to Baltimore City Schools over the next three years. The funding plan includes both city and state revenue, and certain items will require action from Governor Larry Hogan.

“This is progress,” said Sharicca Boldon, Co-Chair of the BEC. “But we cannot afford to be complacent. Education for Baltimore City students has not yet been made whole. We have to secure the necessary funding to ensure that schools have the teaching staff, programs and other resources they need to provide the type of education that all Maryland students deserve.”

The BEC recognizes the important collaboration between the Mayor, House Appropriations and Senate Budget and Taxation committees in negotiating the package. And as we’ve been advocating, it is a multi-year plan that seeks to alleviate the funding gap until such time as a new state education funding formula is adopted.

“We are tremendously encouraged by the work of the Mayor and City Delegation leaders to get us to this point,” said Bebe Verdery, Director of the ACLU of Maryland’s Education Reform Project. “We now look to Governor Hogan to take action to secure this funding for City Schools.”

Known items of the funding package:

• $24 m. from HB 684
  • grant for counties with declining enrollment
  • partial funding for districts with full-day Pre-K

• 4-5 m. from bottle tax revenue in the 21st Century school building fund
• $2 m. from HB 1109/SB 1001- relieving City Schools of required teacher retirement payment increases
• $20-22 m. a year from the City of Baltimore