The state of education, according to O'Malley
Boy, the condition of Maryland's schools sure sounded great listening to the governor's state of the state address today. Children from Armistead Gardens Elementary were on hand as he praised them for their high math scores -- the best in Baltimore, he said -- and touted the state's No. 1 ranking by Education Week. "Let's say it again, shall we?" he said. "Maryland has the best public schools in America." Later, he said that "we are proposing the largest investment our State has ever made in our public schools of $5.4 billion, even in these tough times."
Gov. O'Malley did not mention the $69 million in cuts he has proposed to education, including $23 million to Baltimore. The cuts would be the result of proposed changes in funding formulas that would leave the city and Prince George's schools closing budget shortfalls for years to come -- in spite of short-term aid from the federal economic stimulus package. Dr. Alonso spoke out strongly again this morning on the Larry Young Show on WOLB-AM, and it looks like a coalition is starting to form around him. Marvin "Doc" Cheatham of the Baltimore NAACP called in at the end of the radio segment to lend his support.
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Comments
My wife and I both work in public schools and if we are #1 then the rest of the country must be in bad shape.
Posted by: joe c | January 29, 2009 7:34 PM
I wonder if the $23 million cut will cause BCPSS, pardon me, City Schools, to stop wasting insane amounts of money on private consulting firms or will we just have fewer textbooks, fewer working copiers, less paper (yes, paper is hard to come by), fewer working overhead projectors, fewer calculators, etc.
Posted by: Baltimore Teacher | January 29, 2009 9:09 PM
Remember years ago when O'Malley promised to help education and never forget Baltimore when he rose to the Governor's mansion... I usually come up with something moderately professional to say in response to the things we talk about here... but after the O'Malley all I could come up with was: "What a douche"
Posted by: Brandon | January 29, 2009 10:39 PM
Could Baltimore Teacher please specify
exactly what he/she means by "insane amounts of money on private consulting firms"? I would really like to know what you are talking about. Thanks.
Posted by: School supporter | January 29, 2009 11:01 PM
I remember when Schaeffer was mayor and he went to the city wharehouses to uncrate brand new school text books that had been lying idle for years. Why is it so hard for us to provide equality is education. It seems like we have not made much progress since Brown v. Board of education. It seems things continue to be separate yet not equal. Throwing money is noth answer. Yes, programs are underfunded, but I believe because they are being siphoned off into other areas. We need to find out how we can be more efficient with our dollars and really help our children. This isn't about policy or money, it's about our kids and our future. We can get roused up about the environment when gas prices kick up, what's going to be the monetary impetus to feel the same way about our schools. I've been promoting David Kim's video for a while now, but I think we all really need to watch this and spread his message. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuWXNzKHNFY
Posted by: Jenny Porter | January 30, 2009 4:57 PM