Chambers Pass Different Versions of Counties’ Transparency in Education Spending Initiative

Different versions of MACo’s 2024 legislative initiative to increase public transparency on education spending has passed the House and Senate. MACo encourages the legislature to adopt the bill’s Senate version (SB 1026) and reject the House’s amendment to HB 1115 to weaken the bill’s transparency and accountability.

The implementation of The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, coupled with an influx of federal relief and rescue funding, has compounded the concern of “black box” spending in public education. The Blueprint calls for additional reporting, a series of inputs to the Blueprint’s oversight committee, and a pending new budget-tracking software for school systems. These present opportunities to instill clarity and accountability in school spending, and counties, as fiduciary partners in public education, should have access to the pending new data. Accordingly, MACo, Senator Benjamin Brooks, and Delegate Jared Solomon introduced SB 1026/HB 1115 – County Boards of Education – Budgets – Notice (Transparency in Education Spending Act).

What the bill does NOT do: 

  • Give counties authority or decision-making control over school budgets
  • Mandate new or more extensive reporting than already required by law

What the bill DOES: 

  • Gives counties access to more complete and timely education spending information using existing reporting requirements and systems
  • Provides counties with the tools to anticipate education costs and budget responsibly
  • Makes uniform financial reporting standards and expectations for all school systems and county governments
  • Empowers Maryland taxpayers and families to know how their public dollars are spent in schools and on their kids’ education

The Senate passed SB 1026 unanimously with one amendment to increase the floor for the bill’s requirement for local education agencies (LEAs) to receive approval from their respective county government before transferring funding from one educational category to another. As amended, the bill requires LEAs to seek such approval if they plan to transfer 10 percent or more of one category’s total funding. The bill, as introduced, required approval for one percent or more of a category’s total funding.

On HB 1115, the House concurred with that Senate amendment and further amended that section of HB 1115 to exempt school systems that receive less than 40 percent of their total funding from their respective county governments from seeking approval before transferring funding designated for one budget category to another. Counties resist that amendment and warn that it significantly weakens one of the bill’s key transparency and accountability measurements — especially for some of Maryland’s largest school systems like Baltimore City and potentially Prince George’s County Public Schools.

The House-amended version of the bill text is available online on the General Assembly website.

The House and Senate will now consider the two versions of the bill before its final passage. Stay tuned to Conduit Street for updates on the bill’s progress.