ACLU advocate points to $23 million loss in funding for Baltimore students.

An opinion piece in the Baltimore Sun advocates for the Governor to fully fund the Geographic Cost of Education Index (GCEI). The writer, Gary Therkildsen, is an advocate with the ACLU of Maryland’s Education Reform Project.

While there are 13 counties that receive GCEI funds, Therkildsen frames the issue as a particular loss for Baltimore City, stating,

Governor Hogan should stop holding the GCEI funds hostage and immediately release these critical education dollars that legislators freed up earlier this year. The city schools’ budget is balanced, but let’s not pretend the missing funds do not impact schools. The children of Baltimore cannot afford the loss of $23 million in state funding.

For more information, see the full opinion piece in the Baltimore Sun, Fully fund education, and our previous post, General Assembly Leaders Urge Governor to Release Education Funds.