Gov. Martin O’Malley reminded Maryland’s public schools that their budgets could be chopped as he congratulated the schools for being ranked first in a national survey. “For Maryland to be a winner in this new economy we must move forward by creating and saving jobs through innovation and that includes protecting our nation’s best public school system,” O’Malley said. “We must also be willing to continue making tough choices so that we can protect our shared priorities; priorities that will allow us to make this new economy ours.”

O’Malley is considering a 5 percent cut to education spending across the board, his spokesman, Shaun Adamec, told The Washington Examiner last month.