Maryland’s First Inspector General of Education
County News / Education
Maryland’s First Inspector General of Education

Governor Larry Hogan appointed Maryland's first Inspector General of Education, Richard P. Henry, under terms of legislation passed last year. From Governor Hogan's Press Release: “For five years, our administration has been working hard to root out corruption, wrongdoing, and the mismanagement of state tax dollars by local school systems,” said Governor Hogan. “With the appointment of the first Inspector General for Education in state history, we are reaffirming our commitment to providing more accountability…

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February 19, 2020
County Budgets / County News / Education / General Assembly News / State Budget and Fiscal Issues
Budget Analysts: Reject Proposal to Permanently Cut Community College Funding

The Department of Legislative Services (DLS), in its budget analysis of Aid to Community Colleges, is recommending that the General Assembly reject a proposal in HB 152, the Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act of 2020 (“BRFA”), to permanently cut funding for community colleges. State funding of Maryland’s community colleges is based on the Senator John R. Cade funding formula which was established as law in 1996. The Cade funding formula was created to provide community…

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February 19, 2020
Kirwan Blueprint – Source Data/Assumptions Unveiled
Education / State Budget and Fiscal Issues
Kirwan Blueprint – Source Data/Assumptions Unveiled

A trove of data, and underlying assumptions, used to assemble SB 1000/HB 1300, the Kirwan Blueprint bill, has been released online. For counties, and other stakeholders, analyzing and assessing the broad Kirwan Blueprint education funding plan, a major ingredient has become publicly available. Several sets of data and projections, each relevant to the legislation's fiscal estimates, are now posted no the Department of Legislative Services website: DLS Modeling Assumptions under HB 1300/SB 1000 Projected Full-Time…

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February 17, 2020
Education / State Budget and Fiscal Issues
MACo on Kirwan Blueprint: Rely on State Funding

MACo has submitted a Letter of Information for today's public hearing on the Kirwan Blueprint legislation. The statement calls for the State to provide the resources for the ambitious school funding plan - citing the most equitable state funding systems, where the State is the lead player in funding. Read the text of MACo's statement below: World Class Schools – A State Priority, Should Rely on State Funding The State of Maryland should live up…

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February 17, 2020
Bill Hearing / County News / Education / General Assembly News / News You Can Use
Kirwan Testimony: What You Need to Know to Sign Up

This blog post contains important information about the hearing for HB 1300 / SB 1000 - Blueprint for Maryland's Future – Implementation (or, “the Kirwan bill”) – please review it carefully. HEARING DETAILS Date/Time: Monday, February 17, at noon Location: Joint Hearing Room in the Legislative Services Building (building is between the State House and the House Office Building) Committees: Appropriations; Ways & Means; Education, Health & Environmental Affairs; and Budget & Taxation TESTIMONY If…

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February 14, 2020
Bill Hearing / County Budgets / County News / Education / MACo Testimony
Counties Laud Lifelong Library Learners Act

MACo Policy Associate Drew Jabin testified February 12, 2020 to support SB 524 (CF HB 1000) - Building Lifelong Library Learners Act. This bill boosts funding for county library capital projects, accelerates increases to the library funding formula, and encourages minors to continue to utilize their public libraries by eliminating certain fines. From the MACo Testimony: Maryland’s counties share funding responsibility with the State for our libraries and support additional resources for them. County governments…

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February 14, 2020
Bill Hearing / County News / Education / MACo Testimony
Counties Support Community College Funding Boost

MACo Associate Director Kevin Kinnally testified February 11, 2020, before the Appropriations Committee to support HB 423 - Community Colleges – State Funding – Revision.  The bill would clarify and strengthen the funding connection between four-year and two-year schools, each with an important role in Maryland’s higher education and job readiness strategy. From the MACo Testimony: Budget cutbacks place pressure on already tight county budgets, prompting tuition increases from the community colleges. During a rapidly-moving…

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February 12, 2020
Breaking Down The Kirwan Blueprint Bill
Education / State Budget and Fiscal Issues
Breaking Down The Kirwan Blueprint Bill

The "Blueprint for Maryland's Future" legislation, implementing the full fiscal recommendations of the Kirwan Commission is available at last. Here, Conduit Street breaks down the main fiscal elements of the most consequential bill any of us have ever seen. The Basics -We don't have a "fiscal note" yet, so it's impossible to verify bottom-line numbers -The various phase-ins and cost splits all match up with the existing summary reports -The state/county funding splits are unchanged…

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February 9, 2020
Bill Hearing / Education / Elections / MACo Testimony
Counties Support Broadened “Local Option” for Public Campaign Financing

MACo Associate Director Kevin Kinnally and Policy Associate Drew Jabin testified on February 6, 2020 to support SB 298 (CF HB 337) - Election Law - Local Public Campaign Financing - Boards of Education. The bill expands the offices for which a county may establish a system of public campaign financing. From the MACo Testimony: Currently, counties may authorize public campaign financing for elective offices in the executive and legislative branches of county government. This…

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February 7, 2020
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