Some peculiarities of the Harford County public schools would logically cripple the system, but it continues to persevere.
For instance, the county is one of the wealthiest and largest in the state, but its funding-per-student ranks last, according to the county.
And despite that, it performs as one of the best, while its teachers only recently received pay increases to put them in the middle of state ranks, according to the state.
It is a phenomenon officials can only attribute to dedicated teachers and the high quality of life the county provides.
“It does seem like a contradiction,” said John Jones, president of the Harford County Education Association.
“A good part of that answer is the dedication of the teachers,” he said, adding that a national study showed that Maryland teachers put in an average of 14.5 hours of overtime each week. Jones said he wouldn?t be surprised if Harford teachers surpass that.
About half of the county?s budget goes to the school system and its nearly 40,000 students, the seventh-largest school system in the state, and the county and state each provide about an equal amount of funding, county schools spokesman Don Morrison said.
But because the county?s largest employer is Aberdeen Proving Ground, a tax-exempt federal army base, its county funding is lower than others, and because the county is so wealthy, the state will not help more to fund the school system, Morrison said.
“The county made it a catch-22 with the limited tax revenue they have,” he said.
Morrison said because the county is largely residential, residents? taxes are spread to other public services, such as sewer, police and streets.
Without more money, the county has to “make do” with the basics, lacking a gifted and talented program to recognize successful students and intervention programs to help students lagging behind, Morrison said.
But the fifth-grade math scores on this year?s Maryland State Assessment ranked second in the state, at 65.2 percent proficient. It trailed Garrett County by only 0.8 percent in that category.
And for teachers, the grass is getting greener.
Starting salaries are now about $40,000, whereas two years ago, those with a bachelor?s degree only earned about $34,000, according to the county.
Teachers? pay ranked 11th out of 24 counties in the state at the start of last school year, and a recent deal between the teachers? union and the county calls for a 4 percent increase. Despite that, Jones expects Harford teachers? rank to fall a few spots this year.
