At the Maryland Association of Boards of Education (MABE) Annual Conference this fall, the organization elected a new president and adopting revisions to its continuing resolutions, including language on the local contribution of additional costs for high needs students (English Learners, Special Education, and Compensatory Program).
The President of MABE for the next year is C. Tolbert Rowe, member of the Caroline County Board of Education. The MABE board of directors is comprised of the officers of the association, the immediate past president, and twelve additional members. All must be current members of their local boards of education.
In his first message to members, Rowe stated,
This may seem like a lot of work, all these challenges and opportunities. But I don’t think any of us would be sitting here in this room, on this last day of a very productive and educational conference, if we did not want to do the very best for our children and by our children. I have great faith in MABE – the staff, the leadership, the Board of Directors, and every one of our members – to recognize the challenges and seize on the opportunities. I look forward to working with each of you this year.
Also at the Conference, MABE updated its continuing resolutions, which provide the foundation for the Association’s legislative and policy positions in the year ahead. Current law does not require counties to match additional state funding for high needs students. MABE adopted the following resolution suggesting that counties should be required to pay a portion of the additional costs for high needs students. MABE states,
Support for legislation to require local governments to fund their share of the additional costs for high needs students (English Learners, Special Education, and Economic Disadvantage)
As previously reported on Conduit Street, according to the Commission on Innovation & Excellence in Education, total State and local expenditures on special education equaled $1.567 billion in fiscal 2015. Of this, the State provided $272 million, or 17.3% of the total. Counties accounted for the remaining $1.296 billion, or 82.7% of the total.
For more information, read all of MABE’s updated resolutions or read the press release from their Annual Conference.