A group of education stakeholders plan their next meeting as they prepare for a hand-off of their findings to the State’s Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education.
The next meeting of the Adequacy Study Stakeholder Group is scheduled for Wednesday, July 20, 2016 from 9:00 – 11:00 in the State Board room on the 7th floor of Maryland State Department of Education Headquarters.
The group is set to review a few final studies prepared by its consultant, and to begin assembling a comprehensive list of their findings. A final report from the Adequacy Study group is due October 31, 2016.
At that time, the State’s Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education will be created. The Commission is currently being appointed, and will include two representatives of the Maryland Association of Counties, one representing an urban county and one representing a rural county.
That Commission will review the findings of the Adequacy Study and prepare a preliminary report of its findings and recommendations to the Governor, the Senate Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee, the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee, the House Committee on Ways and Means, and the House Appropriations Committee. The preliminary report is due December 31, 2016, just before the start of the legislative session.
Findings from the Adequacy Study will provide input into the Commission’s recommendations for changes to the State’ education funding laws. Subjects addressed by the Adequacy Study include:
- Education funding equity
- Effects of concentrated poverty on school performance
- How to best account for low-income students
- Funding adjustments for enrollment gains and drops
- School size and enrollment goals
For more information, including the interim reports of the adequacy study group, see the Adequacy Study Stakeholder Group‘s webpage and the legislation creating the Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education.
