The bulk of the new money in Gov. Martin O?Malley?s budget ? $680 million ? is being used to fund the final phase-in of the Thornton aid to education formula.
Four legislative committees, representing a third of the House and Senate, listened to a long briefing Tuesday on what results have been produced by the massive infusion of new state funds to local school districts ? a total of almost $4.4 billion this coming fiscal year, an increase of 75 percent over the last six years.
“The hardest part is matching up funding and performance,” said John Rohrer, fiscal and policy coordinator for the General Assembly nonpartisan staff. “I think we?re seeing results. … Every school system is improving performance” on standard tests, some more than others.
Policy analyst Mark Collins said, “We?re close to getting adequately funded, and also, test scores have improved.”
A commission chaired by Alvin Thornton recommended that Maryland adopt a new system of paying for K-12 education based on “adequate funding” ? funding that is sufficient to acquire the total resources needed to reasonably expect that students can meet academic performance standards, analyst explained.
Local school systems also get extra funding for students who need special education, are economically disadvantage or have limited English.
Adequate funding is adjusted to reflect a local jurisdiction?s wealth and ability to fund it own schools. This translates into about $14,400 per pupil in Baltimore City and $12,473 in Prince George?s County, the two highest in the state, to about $8,900 per pupil in Howard and Carroll counties, the two lowest in the state. Baltimore and Montgomery counties have targets at $10,800.
The legislature mandated a three-year study of the impact of the new aid. State School Superintendent Nancy Grasmick gave the lawmakers what she called “a very preliminary report” from an outside consultant.
From 2003 through 2006, Grasmick said Maryland students “have reduced the gap in proficiency byhalf” in reading and math, particularly in the elementary grades. There was less improvement in middle schools, and high schools are still lagging.
The new study found that school systems spent most of the new money on salaries and wages, and the average teacher salary in Maryland increased by 8.5 percent to $52,330 per year.
