Eight Maryland counties including Montgomery and Prince George’s have asked the State Board of Education to give them a pass on mandatory school funding because of an influx of federal dollars.
State law requires counties to increase funding to schools each year based on factors such as higher enrollments, independent of dollars coming in from state and federal sources. But in dire budgetary times, counties can petition for a waiver. And the promise of extra federal money helps their case.
Stimulus funds coming to Montgomery and Prince George’s total about $21 million and $29 million, respectively. In addition, federal funds for the state have allowed Gov. Martin O’Malley to allocate millions more to the counties in state aid.
But in Prince George’s, the waiver means the schools would receive $23 million less than expected and have to cut 370 more positions, said school board member Heather Iliff. Already, the struggling district is looking at cutting about 900 positions.
“We’ve already made very deep cuts this year, and we made deep cuts last year, and we’d also made deep cuts for the upcoming school year,” Iliff said. “We don’t have any more wiggle room.”
The Prince George’s school board, like others across the state, issued a statement urging the state board to turn down the county’s request.
In neighboring Montgomery County, the school board voted last week to support the request for the waiver, but with conditions that could help the schools in the long run.
First, the County Council must not make further cuts to the fiscal 2010 budget, according to an agreement between school and county officials. Second, the final budget, to be approved in late May, cannot disturb the schools’ preferred allocation of stimulus funds. And last, the waiver can last only one year.
Montgomery also has flexibility to support the waiver because of $24.2 million in surprise state aid coming to the county as a result of an accounting error in Annapolis last year.
Maryland’s 12-member State Board of Education will review the counties’ requests Monday.
