Education Adequacy Study Stakeholder Advisory Group To Hold Second Meeting

The Stakeholder Advisory Group will holds its second meeting this Thursday, September 18th.  The Adequacy Funding Study is a follow-up to the Thornton Commission required by the Bridge to Excellence in Public Schools Act of 2002. The Stakeholder Advisory Group is charged with “ensuring the [Adequacy Funding] study is thorough and reflective of the distinctive characteristics of Maryland and its public schools.”

The first meeting of the Stakeholder Advisory Group was held on August 12.  The first meeting included an introduction by Kristy Michel, Chief Operating Officer of the Maryland State Department of Education and a presentation by consultants hired by the State to perform the Adequacy Funding Study,  Augenblick, Palaich and Associates. A powerpoint presentation by the consultants describes the background of their firm, project timelines, and deliverables.  As described in the presentation, the areas that Augenblick will study include:

  • Equity and Local Wealth Measures
    • Conduct school finance equity study to determine status of horizontal & vertical equity and fiscal neutrality in state– Include measures of property and income wealth currently used in state finance formulas
    • Review literature and other state’s policies on wealth measurement
    • Develop conclusions and recommendations
  • Increasing/Decreasing Enrollment
    • Analyze enrollment trends and relationship to operating, transportation and capital revenues and expenditures over 10 years
    • Identify key factors influencing transportation costs
    • Review literature and other state’s policies on fiscal effects of changing enrollment
    • Develop conclusions and recommendations, including potential adjustments in state transportation funding formulas to incentivize efficiencies
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Data from the “Summary of School Size Report,” prepared for the Maryland State Department of Education

At the Thursday meeting, the contractor Augenblick, Palaich and Associates will provide an overview of the following reports:

Michael Sanderson, MACo’s Executive Director, serves as MACo’s representative on the stakeholder group.  For more information, contact Robin Clark at MACo, (410) 269-0043 or see the Maryland Department of Education.