It might already be familiar to many of you reading, but... it's a pretty big deal that more than 20 advocacy groups are joining forces on behalf of Baltimore schools. I don't know that the city has ever had this kind of organization before.

The first fight for the Baltimore Education Coalition is, of course, school funding. As you'll see in my story today, the stimulus will put a lot of money into city schools. But for now at least, Gov. O'Malley isn't backing down from his proposed changes to education funding formulas that would disproportionately hurt Baltimore and Prince George's County. Coalition members have vowed to bring out up to 3,000 people for a rally in Annapolis March 3.