Read more about the article The FY 2030 Kirwan Funding – County Costs, In Context
Education / State Budget and Fiscal Issues / Winter Conference
The FY 2030 Kirwan Funding – County Costs, In Context

With this week's adoption of the funding plan details for the Blueprint for Maryland program, MACo breaks down the eventual county costs - and places them into a context with current law, in addition to current trends. We estimate the new mandated county costs at $1.9 billion in FY 2030 dollars. A full-sized version of this table is available online as a pdf: Estimating FY2030 minimum funding requirement Explaining the table above: The first two…

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October 17, 2019
Education / State Budget and Fiscal Issues
Glassman Abstains from Formula Vote – Letter Explains Decision, Context

Harford County Executive, and MACo President, Barry Glassman abstained from the final vote of the Kirwan Commission's Formula Funding Work Group, on which he served. His submitted letter explains the context of and reasoning behind that vote. From County Executive Glassman's letter: While I appreciate the opportunity to serve, and to represent the county community to the best of my ability, I feel I am unable to adequately represent a simple “county perspective” for a…

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October 17, 2019
Read more about the article Local Bill Aims to Close “Teardown Loophole” in Montgomery County
County Budgets / County News / Education / Housing and Community Development / Taxes and Revenues
Local Bill Aims to Close “Teardown Loophole” in Montgomery County

Montgomery County Council Member Evan Glass yesterday introduced the Housing Impact Fairness Act –– legislation aimed at raising money for affordable housing and school construction –– by closing the "teardown loophole.” https://twitter.com/MoCoCouncilMD/status/1184210415636615171 The bill would create an excise tax on the demolition or partial demolition (i.e., "teardown") of single-family homes and expand the applicability of the development impact tax for public school improvements. Council Member Glass says the proposal would raise $100 million over the next…

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October 16, 2019
Read more about the article Kirwan Formula Work Group Done: County Costs $1.227B Above “Current Trend”
County News / Education / State Budget and Fiscal Issues
Kirwan Formula Work Group Done: County Costs $1.227B Above “Current Trend”

The Formula Funding Work Group, created to inform the Kirwan Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education, issued its recommendations. The bottom line to counties: fully fund the "local share" (as implied by local wealth) of the full range of new state programs - phased in to total $9.3 billion by FY 2030. The Formula Funding Work Group, after working for months toward recommendations on the financial mechanics of the Kirwan Commission vision, completed its…

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October 15, 2019
Read more about the article CTE Programs Offering Students Opportunities in the Solar Industry
Education / Environment / Housing and Community Development
CTE Programs Offering Students Opportunities in the Solar Industry

Grid Alternative, a nonprofit bringing free solar to low-income communities, is helping to educate and train the next generation of students to move forward in the growing solar industry. Through the Solar Futures program, high school students are exposed to the renewable energy field and provide opportunities to participate in installations. There are also lessons on renewables and career pathways for elementary and middle school students. From Education Dive's article: Working alongside the installation team,…

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October 10, 2019
Read more about the article Kirwan Funding Work Group Releases Preliminary County-by-County Numbers
Education / State Budget and Fiscal Issues
Kirwan Funding Work Group Releases Preliminary County-by-County Numbers

The school funding formula workgroup, nearing its end, distributed and discussed several analyses that illustrate the potential effects of the plan on county finances - but more work and refinement awaits, in time for next week's decision meeting. A busy day for the Kirwan Formula Funding Workgroup on October 8 saw the members discuss and debate a variety of numbers and analyses relating to the ambitious spending plan. They made some incremental, mostly technical decisions,…

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October 8, 2019
Read more about the article NCTQ Report: Movement Away from Student Test Results in Evaluations
Education
NCTQ Report: Movement Away from Student Test Results in Evaluations

A new report from the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) shows that since the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), some states have moved away from including student test results in principal, teacher evaluations. From Education Dive's article: Following No Child Left Behind’s strict requirements for education accountability systems, ESSA returned much of the control to the states. In addition to legal challenges over linking test scores to teacher evaluation results, education…

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October 8, 2019
Read more about the article State Casino Revenue Sluggish in September
Photo by Kaysha on Unsplash
County News / Education / State Budget and Fiscal Issues / Taxes and Revenues
State Casino Revenue Sluggish in September

Gross gaming revenue (GGR) fell 1.1% percent in September to $142.2 million from $143.8 million in September 2018, state lottery and gaming officials announced last week. In terms of year-over-year data, August GGR was up 5.4% – the fourth-best month in the history of Maryland’s casino gaming program. Contributions from September 2019 casino gaming revenue totaled $59.3 million, including $44.4 million for the Education Trust Fund. Casino gaming revenues also support local communities and jurisdictions…

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October 8, 2019
County News / Education / State Budget and Fiscal Issues
Red Maryland: Kirwan Plan “Not The Solution”

Red Maryland's Editor-in-Chief Brian Griffiths joins the blossoming public debate over new school funding plan: "an expensive prescription for cures already tried." Brian Griffiths, editor-in-chief of Red Maryland, offered an analysis of the still-developing Kirwan Commission school funding plan as an opinion column in the Capital Gazette, where he is a frequent contributor. From his piece: The commission recommendations are a laundry list of liberal priorities focused on expanding government and redistributing taxpayer dollars to liberal special…

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October 7, 2019
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