School funding fight moves to conference committee
The Senate has approved the education funding cuts in its budget. It now goes to a conference committee to hammer out differences with the House version, which does not include the most harmful provisions for education. Here is a mass e-mail that Dr. Alonso and Brian Morris just sent out about the potential impact on the city schools.
Arne Duncan has said he will "come down like a ton of bricks" and withhold the second year of stimulus money from states that cut aid to schools with the idea that they can replace it with stimulus dollars. But that appears to be what's happening here in Maryland.
Baltimoresun.com's 
Comments
Given that the governor's going to be hurt if the federal government withholds the second year of stimulus money from Maryland, maybe we should flood him with emails as well. You can use his contact webpage to drop him a line.
Posted by: a parent | April 2, 2009 1:20 PM
Urgent Take Action to Stop Senate Cuts!
* Decisions will most likely begin tomorrow. Email you state legislators now to urge them to support the House version of the budget!
Go to this link - Just 2 Minutes of Your Time!
https://secure.aclu.org/site/Advocacy?id=1433&pagename=homepage
The education funding cuts passed by the state Senate will have a devastating impact on Maryland schools. The Senate reduced funding for the coming school year ($50 million), but also made $100 million in cuts for each of the two years following! This action fundamentally changes the Thornton formula by removing the inflation factor for another two years. The Senate version of the budget is not consistent with the Governor’s two-year plan for spending federal stimulus funding to maximize the investment in Maryland’s public schools.
Posted by: Frank Patinella | April 2, 2009 4:05 PM
Thanks to Gov. O'Malley and the reps from Baltimore. You have forgotten that our kids deserve what others get and that making the types of real changes needed will cost, you know, MONEY.
What a load. Thanks for the screw job.
And yes, flood them with calls, faxes and emails. Get students and parents involved - of course this comes just a few hours before (most of the system goes on) spring break.
Can you tell I am mad? Hope so. And I will remember on election day.
Posted by: Interesting Observations | April 2, 2009 10:07 PM
Just to keep you posted on Sen. McFadden's position, I just got this email from him:
Thank you for writing. I am and always will be an advocate for our students in Baltimore City. I am voting in support of the House version of the budget. We will continue to work hard to give our students what they need to succeed.
Senator McFadden
Posted by: a parent | April 3, 2009 10:32 AM