Education funding big winner in budget

Gov. Martin O?Malley is proposing a $31.5 billion state budget for fiscal year 2009, a 4.1 percent hike in state spending that he said Wednesday is one of the smallest increases in years, calling it “fiscally responsible.”

O?Malley noted “another year of record-high funding for public education,” with $5.3 billion set aside for k-12 public schools. That?s $184 million higher than last year, including the first funding of the Geographic Cost of Education Index, though the governor has slowed the growth of the Thornton school aid.