November 17, 2003
 
 
 The issue of higher education funding in Maryland has generated much discussion in Annapolis, on college campuses, and across the state. Regardless of where the debate is occurring, one underlying assumption seems to be guiding it - namely, that the historic funding increases state colleges experienced during the 1990s were spent exclusively to benefit students in the classroom.
 
 In fact, increases in state aid to the Maryland's university system during the past decade did not uniquely benefit students or lower tuition rates.
 
 Much of this taxpayer money never trickled down into classrooms, where it is needed most.
 
 >From 1994 to 2002, the university system received a $344 million increase in state funding, according to the Maryland Department of Budget and Management. Despite this funding windfall, the system raised tuition on students by 88 percent during the 1990s.
 
 As tuition rates soared, so did salaries. According to information recently released by the University System of Maryland, the top 81 employees in the system today are paid a combined $13.8 million, making their average annual salary more than $170,000.
 
 Since 1998, the president of the Baltimore campus has received a 48 percent raise to $351,028. Likewise, the president of the College Park campus received a 64 percent raise and now earns $358,000. The president of University College received a 126 percent raise to $325,557. Those salary increases could have paid the tuition bills for 74 students at this year's tuition rates.
 
 Given the seriousness of the state's budget problems, the University System of Maryland's leadership must ensure that precious resources are spent in a way that yields quantifiable educational results. University leaders should undertake a thorough, public and verifiable effort to reduce unnecessary nonacademic expenditures. Any resulting savings should be directed toward alleviating burgeoning tuition rates at our colleges.
 
 University executives should be rewarded with reasonable compensation for their contributions to the university system. Nonetheless, the student must be the first beneficiary of taxpayer dollars.
 
 
 
 Kevin Kelly
 Cumberland
 
 
 The writer is a state delegate who represents Allegany County as a Democrat.
 
 ----------------------------------------------------
 Copyright 2003 Baltimore Sun

November 7, 2003
 
 State education officials reported results of a survey yesterday that indicated many of the public school buildings in Maryland are failing to meet local, state or national standards in areas ranging from air quality to building accessibility to student capacity.
 
 No sooner were the results made public than many school system leaders in the Baltimore region took issue with the conclusions reached in the survey, calling into question its methodology -- much of the information was self-reported -- and contending that the data were not only unreliable but unhelpful.
 
 The survey, completed last month by the Task Force to Study Public School Facilities, detailed the results of a 10-month audit of nearly every public school building in the state. School officials said this is the first time the state has undertaken such a large-scale facilities assessment.
 
 Each school district rated its own needs and submitted data to the task force's advisory panel, led by state schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick. The state spot-checked the information reported by the schools.
 
 Although the task force won't come up with the potential price tag of meeting the long list of needs until next month, Grasmick said, the state plans to use the survey to set priorities -- and wants school districts to do the same.
 
 "We're saying to school systems, 'Please use this data, look at it and implement it into your planning,'" she said.
 
 The survey evaluated building conditions and capacity in 1,342 schools, as well as each building's ability to support educational programs and support services.
 
 Statewide, more than 30 percent of schools were rated inadequate in six of the 31 areas measured: student capacity, accessibility, existing prekindergarten and kindergarten classrooms, secondary science, fine arts and health services.
 
 Some school systems, such as in Howard and Montgomery counties, reported few areas of need. But districts such as Baltimore, Baltimore County and Anne Arundel County indicated that their schools met the survey's standards in only a handful of areas.
 
 Allen Abend, deputy director of the state's Public School Construction Program, said the standards set by the survey are "very definitive," and don't leave much room for interpretation.
 
 But many local school leaders disagreed.
 
 Raymond Prokop, director of facilities for Carroll County schools, called the survey "superficial, vague and not especially helpful." He said several survey questions -- such as one that asked school systems to evaluate whether "adequate space is provided for teachers to plan" -- were subjective and open to interpretation.
 
 "We've expressed concern with the terminology of the standards," Prokop said. "They can call those things standards but if they don't give us something to compare it to, it's not a standard. It's subjective."
 
 Self-reporting presents an intrinsic risk for potentially skewed data, some school officials said.
 
 Baltimore City reported all of its schools as failing to meet the standard for having adequate "potable water."
 
 But that's not necessarily true, city officials said.
 
 The system is about to embark on a lead-testing program of fountains and sinks and "felt obligated" to list their schools as inadequate until the testing is completed.
 
 In Baltimore County, results showed more than half of schools failing to meet the standards in 12 of the 31 areas measured, from air quality to security to fine arts classroom space.
 
 However, because school systems reported their own data to the state, they all may not have held themselves to the same standard, said Donald F. Krempel, Baltimore County's executive director of physical facilities.
 
 "We were probably more critical of ourselves than an outside evaluator would have been," Superintendent Joe A. Hairston said.
 
 Abend, of the Public School Construction Program, noted that the survey's results did not warrant sanctions or immediate action, and that the standards were, in some cases, exceptionally high.
 
 In the "air quality" section of the survey, for example, the standard is set higher than in most homes. So, "not meeting the guideline is not a health hazard," Abend said.
 
 In Anne Arundel County, where half of the system's 117 schools failed to meet the state standard for building security -- and 62 percent were not accessible to the disabled -- school officials said they were not surprised by the survey results.
 
 "The buildings are old, and standards have changed," said Associate Superintendent Greg Nourse.
 
 
 
 
 
 Copyright (c) 2003, The Baltimore Sun

November 4, 2003, 10:01 PM EST
 
 An escape hatch that lawmakers inserted in an expensive school funding plan is almost certainly illegal, Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. said Tuesday, a finding that makes it more difficult for the state to back out of a $1.3 billion-a-year education program that no one can agree how to pay for.
 
 Curran told lawmakers that a vote they are currently mandated to take next March -- a resolution either affirming or denying that Maryland has enough money to pay for the so-called Thornton Plan -- would be an unconstitutional legislative veto of a state program.
 
 "We want to make sure that as you go forward, you know it's suspect," Curran said at a joint hearing of three House and Sen ate fiscal committees in Annapolis.
 
 The legal warning came during the latest in the series of briefings on the education plan, with mounting questions leading one top lawmaker to call on Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., the House speaker and the Senate president to sit together and sort out the mess.
 
 "It's going to require some leadership from the second floor and the presiding officers," said Sen. Ulysses Currie, chairman of the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee.
 
 Representatives of all three leaders accepted the challenge Tuesday. But a solution to the school funding program remains elusive, with Ehrlich advocating slot machines at racetracks to pay for it and legislative Democrats insisting that revenue from expanded gambling is not enough and new taxes are needed.
 
 Ehrlich and nearly every other politician in the state ran for election as a supporter of the Thornton program, which, when fully implemented over six years, will have added $1.3 billion in additional annual funding. Currently, the state pays $3.3 billion yearly for public education from a $10.7 billion operating budget.
 
 The education bill is coming due at a time of revenue shortfalls, projected to hit $740 million next year. Some critics want it altered, despite Curran's warning that changes could spark lawsuits.
 
 The reform law, designed to provide quality to rich and poor school districts alike, was passed in the closing days of the 2002 session without a funding source to pay for it. To ease the concerns of legislators worried about the cost, notably former House Speaker Casper Taylor Jr., an 11th hour provision was inserted requiring the Assembly to vote by the 50th day of the 2004 legislative session that sufficient funds were available.
 
 A legal thorn
 
 Curran said Tuesday that his office had not reviewed the provision before it was passed; if so, he said, lawyers would have asked that it be removed. He said courts have found that such votes violate federal and state constitutions by giving too much power to the legislative branch.
 
 The safest route now, Curran said, would be for legislators to strip out the escape-hatch clause with a separate bill next year, and stick with the original plan for full funding.
 
 Under the law, if lawmakers found that the state had no money for Thornton, the funding would be cut in half, a scenario referred to as "Thornton Lite."
 
 Inadequate solution
 
 But Thornton Lite has other problems, lawmakers learned Tuesday. The reduced funding would grant money based on this year's enrollment figures, meaning that school districts with faster enrollment growth would be penalized in future years.
 
 For example, Prince George's and Montgomery counties would receive only about 75 percent of full Thornton money under the reduced plan, while Bal timore would get 87 percent and Anne Arundel County would receive 92 percent.
 
 Sen. Patrick J. Hogan, a Montgomery County Democrat and vice-chairman of the Budget and Taxation Committee, said evidence is mounting that reducing the Thornton Plan, or spreading out its costs over more years, are bad alternatives.
 
 "It shows how delaying it just puts off the inevitable," Hogan said, adding that he agrees with Currie that the state's highest-ranking political leaders must broker a solution.
 
 "We need to get the presiding officers and the governor on the same page," he said.
 
 Kenneth H. Masters, the governor's chief legislative officer, agreed. "The situation cries out for that," Masters said. "We've got this enormous fiscal problem, for which no solution was provided."
 
 Copyright (c) 2003, The Associated Press

November 5, 2003
 
 An escape hatch that lawmakers inserted in an expensive school funding plan is almost certainly illegal, Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. said yesterday, a finding that makes it more difficult for the state to back out of a $1.3 billion-a-year education program that no one can agree how to pay for.
 
 Curran told lawmakers that a vote they are required to take in March - a resolution affirming or denying that Maryland has enough money to pay for the so-called Thornton Plan - would be an unconstitutional legislative veto of a state program.
 
 "We want to make sure that as you go forward, you know it's suspect," Curran said at a joint hearing of three House and Senate fiscal committees in Annapolis.
 
 The legal warning came during the latest in the series of briefings on the education plan, with increasing questions leading one top lawmaker to call on Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., the House speaker and the Senate president to sit together and sort out the mess.
 
 "It's going to require some leadership from the second floor and the presiding officers," said Sen. Ulysses Currie, chairman of the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee.
 
 Representatives of all three leaders accepted the challenge yesterday. But a solution to the school funding program remains elusive, with Ehrlich advocating slot machines at racetracks to pay for it and legislative Democrats insisting that revenue from expanded gambling is not enough and that new taxes are needed.
 
 Ehrlich and nearly every other politician in the state ran for election as a supporter of the Thornton program, which, when fully implemented over six years, will have added $1.3 billion in additional annual funding. The state now pays $3.3 billion yearly for public education from a $10.7 billion operating budget.
 
 The education bill is coming due at a time of revenue shortfalls, projected to hit $740 million next year. Some critics want it altered, despite Curran's warning that changes could spark lawsuits.
 
 The reform law, designed to provide quality to rich and poor school districts alike, was passed in the closing days of the 2002 session without a funding source to pay for it.
 
 To ease the concerns of legislators worried about the cost, notably former House Speaker Casper Taylor Jr., an 11th-hour provision was inserted requiring the Assembly to vote by the 50th day of the 2004 legislative session that sufficient funds were available.
 
 Curran said yesterday that his office had not reviewed the provision before it was passed; if so, he said, lawyers would have asked that it be removed. He said courts have found that such votes violate federal and state constitutions by giving too much power to the legislative branch.
 
 The safest route now, Curran said, would be for legislators to take out the escape-hatch clause with a separate bill next year, and stick with the original plan for full funding.
 
 Under the law, if lawmakers found that the state had no money for Thornton, the funding would be cut in half, a scenario referred to as "Thornton Lite."
 
 But Thornton Lite has other problems, lawmakers learned yesterday. The reduced funding would grant money based on this year's enrollment figures, meaning that school districts with faster enrollment growth would be penalized in future years.
 
 For example, Prince George's and Montgomery counties would receive only about 75 percent of full Thornton money under the reduced plan, while Baltimore would get 87 percent and Anne Arundel County would receive 92 percent.
 
 Sen. Patrick J. Hogan, a Montgomery County Democrat and vice chairman of the Budget and Taxation Committee, said evidence is mounting that reducing the Thornton Plan, or spreading out its costs over more years, are bad alternatives.
 
 "It shows how delaying it just puts off the inevitable," Hogan said, adding that he agrees with Currie that the state's highest-ranking political leaders must broker a solution.
 
 "We need to get the presiding officers and the governor on the same page," he said.
 
 Kenneth H. Masters, the governor's chief legislative officer, agreed. "The situation cries out for that," Masters said. "We've got this enormous fiscal problem, for which no solution was provided."
 
 Copyright (c) 2003, The Baltimore Sun

Oct. 29, 2003
 
 Despite tight state and county budgets, schools Superintendent Jerry D. Weast will recommend an almost $1 billion construction budget today.
 
 His six-year construction plan includes building or reopening 10 schools, adding classrooms to 21 schools, accelerating the modernization of 18 schools and putting in gyms at 33 elementary schools. The school system plans to pay for it with a combination of increased taxes on development, state aid and county bonds.
 
 Under Weast's proposal, the number of portable classrooms would be cut in half, from 689 this year to 309 by 2011. It takes into account space needs for the expansion of full-day kindergarten at 65 elementary schools.
 
 The plan also moves up the modernization of Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville by one year, to September 2006. In 2001, the high school's modernization had been pushed back two years to September 2007, as the school system announced major delays in construction projects.
 
 Weast's plan moves up the completion dates for all other high school modernizations by two years, including completing the modernization of Walter Johnson in Bethesda by September 2008.
 
 The proposed $956.2 million budget also moves up elementary school modernization projects by a year, with College Gardens Elementary School in Rockville first on the list with a projected completion date for full modernization and a new gymnasium by January 2007.
 
 "The pace of building new classrooms and modernizing existing facilities must be accelerated if we are to maintain our commitment to provide our students and staff with a learning environment that supports a high-quality education for all of our students," Weast said in a statement.
 
 His plan also calls for refurbishing restrooms in 50 schools and building gymnasiums at the 33 existing or planned elementary schools by September 2011.
 
 The school board must approve the budget recommendations before sending them on to the County Council for final approval.
 
 
 
 Reducing portables
 
 Portable classrooms crowded onto school grounds are perhaps the most visible symbols of the school system's construction needs.
 
 More than 17,000 of the school system's 140,000 students attend classes in portable facilities, or about 12 percent of the system's overall enrollment.
 
 "If we don't get our capital budget, we'll end up at about 1,000 portables," said school board President Patricia B. O'Neill (Dist. 3) of Bethesda. "... I think to most citizens in the county, that's an unacceptable situation."
 
 One way the school system hopes to pay for construction projects is via an impact tax that the County Council approved Tuesday.
 
 The tax on new building, approved as a revision to the county's Annual Growth Policy and referred to by the county as the highest in the state, is projected to bring in $25 million in fiscal 2005.
 
 The county's revised growth policy, or so-called schools test, also says that new homes may not be built in a school cluster with elementary or middle schools whose enrollments are at or above 105 percent capacity and high schools at or above 100 percent capacity.
 
 The policy also discontinues the practice of borrowing capacity from elementary or middle schools in one cluster to permit development in another cluster.
 
 A turnover of older homes to families with young children downcounty coupled with new home construction upcounty is driving the need for school additions, new schools and the reopening of old schools, O'Neill said.
 
 "The children are arriving by the busloads in the downcounty area, hence our need to reopen Belt [Middle] School," she said. "We're reopening Connecticut Park [Elementary]. We're reopening Arcola [Elementary School]."
 
 The plan recommends construction projects around the county, with only the Poolesville cluster without any new construction.
 
 "There are projects that are going to every [school] board district, every councilmanic district and every legislative district with this [recommendation]," O'Neill said.
 
 
 
 How to pay for it
 
 To pay for all this construction, the school system expects to rely on a number of revenue sources, including an increase in the amount of money the county may borrow through issuing bonds, the impact tax on new homes, an increase in the recordation tax and at least $150 million over six years in state aid.
 
 A $245 million increase in bond money available for all county agencies approved by the County Council on Sept. 30 also may help, but how much of that money could go to schools remains to be seen.
 
 O'Neill said she realizes there are other needs around the county such as libraries and roads. But schools can be built quicker than most construction projects "if we only have the money," she said.
 
 School officials are hoping Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) will keep his promise to increase state aid for school construction.
 
 "I think the major challenge with this budget is going to be the state budget piece," said school board Vice President Sharon W. Cox (At large) of Germantown.
 
 Weast's recommendation includes a request for $59.9 million in state aid for next fiscal year. That includes $17.9 million that the state must put up to meet the minimum state standards for construction and $42 million in projects not yet approved by the state.
 
 Earlier this year, county school officials expected to get $35 million from the state but received only $10 million.
 
 "At some point the state is going to have to live up to their responsibility to all counties in terms of school construction," O'Neill said. "With such drastic school construction needs, we can't leave any stone unturned. And if it is pressing the state or pressing the county government, we must do all that we can."
 
 If state lawmakers can find the money to fully pay for the state's landmark $1.3 billion Thornton school funding law, they will be doing more than most states in these tough economic times, said Sen. Patrick J. Hogan (D-Dist. 39) of Montgomery Village, vice chairman of the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee.
 
 But he added, "This is a team effort between the state and the county.
 
 "While it's impossible for me to sit here and say what the county can receive from the state, I think telling the state what the county will need for facilities is the first step in sizing up the problem," he said.

Originally published October 28, 2003
 
 
 From the governor's mansion to the halls of the legislature, talk is growing that a $1.3 billion public school improvement program must be altered because Marylanders won't swallow new taxes to pay for it and the budget is busted.
 
 But a careful look at the Bridge to Excellence in Public Schools plan - such as the day-long examination that legislative budget committees undertook last week - reveals important reasons why a delay may be impractical or even impossible, some lawmakers and education advocates say.
 
 Not only does a sweeping federal law passed nearly two years ago and called "No Child Left Behind" require similar education improvements to those urged by the Thornton Commission, but lawsuits would almost certainly be launched if the schools program were changed.
 
 Additionally, districts throughout the state are creating plans to show how they will spend the money, raising expectations that their communities will receive more teachers, smaller classes and better instruction for at-risk children.
 
 "I don't think Thornton can be rolled back, because it covers much of the mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act," said House Speaker Michael E. Busch. "And it's the general belief and expectation of most Marylanders that it is going to be funded, because every elected official, including the governor, said they intended to fully fund Thornton."
 
 The question of how to pay for the education plan - approved last year to bring equity and quality to classrooms but without a funding source behind it - will dominate the General Assembly session that begins in January.
 
 Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. says his next budget will include the third of six installments for the program, about $388 million, without relying on slot machine proceeds or new taxes.
 
 But after that, the governor says, there are no guarantees. Ehrlich wants a slots-at-racetracks bill passed to cover the expenses, but top Democratic lawmakers note that a slots program would take about two years to set up and would cover a little more than half the costs of the education plan.
 
 Democrats passed the program to much fanfare even as Republicans grumbled about whether the state could afford it. But polls showed its popularity, and Ehrlich ran on a platform of meeting its mandates.
 
 The governor has begun discussions with top lawmakers on whether the Thornton requirements can be spread over more years, lowering the annual cost.
 
 "We inherited that debate," Ehrlich said yesterday. "We've listened to a variety of opinions, from 'Leave it alone' to 'Come on, just look at the numbers.' We haven't made any decision."
 
 Although the idea of extending the plan has growing appeal, last week's hearing raised several red flags.
 
 The requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act are in some cases more stringent than Maryland's plan, education experts say.
 
 The federal law requires improvements for subgroups of students such as those with disabilities or limited English skills whose performance has been masked behind schoolwide averages. Qualified teachers are required in all schools, and 100 percent of students must master their subject areas by 2014.
 
 "You can say that No Child Left Behind upped the ante on Thornton," said Rachel Hise, a legislative analyst for the House Appropriations Committee.
 
 Chris Maher, an education specialist with Advocates for Children and Youth of Maryland, called the federal law "a beast" that would be unleashed if the state program is delayed.
 
 'Loss of local control'
 
 "It could mean the loss of local control over schools, or the loss of federal funds for the state of Maryland," Maher said. "By altering Thornton, you are talking about undermining No Child Left Behind. ... It's dangerous to talk about extending the implementation of Thornton."
 
 The Thornton legislation was born of a study that looked at what Maryland needs to do to meet its requirements under the state constitution of providing an adequate public education for all students.
 
 Consultants concluded that, on average, school districts needed to spend $9,408 per pupil to provide an adequate education, with some districts, notably Baltimore, coming in much higher, at $12,458.
 
 But local jurisdictions varied greatly in their ability to raise money to meet that goal. Baltimore had an unmet need of $10,159 per pupil, the consultants said, while Talbot County had only a $454 gap.
 
 Putting specific numbers behind a wealth-stabilization plan, and passing a law that requires higher spending, has created much of the evidence needed for interest groups to sue Maryland on grounds that the state is failing its duties, many observers say.
 
 "If one of these counties goes to court, we've almost made the case," said Sen. Ulysses Currie, chairman of the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee. "It's easy to prove we are not providing adequate funding for education."
 
 Baltimore suit in works
 
 Baltimore parents are engaged in such a lawsuit, and a judge found that city schools are not providing an adequate education.
 
 Bebe Verdery, director of the ACLU of Maryland's Education Reform Project, said her organization would likely return to court and ask a judge to enforce an order requiring more resources for Baltimore schools if the Thornton plan is delayed.
 
 "I would also expect lawsuits from other jurisdictions with the greatest need," Verdery said. "Certainly the rural counties and Prince George's are furthest from the funding level they need."
 
 Not everyone buys the argument that more money is the answer.
 
 Republican state Sen. J. Lowell Stoltzfus, the Senate minority leader, proposed this month a one-year postponement of the Thornton plan to save $388 million in next year's $22 billion state budget. The governor and lawmakers must agree on a way to fill an $800 million gap between revenues and expenditures next year, and a Thornton delay would provide half the solution.
 
 "We're rushing pell-mell to fund something that doesn't guarantee results," said Stoltzfus, who was a superintendent and principal of a private school he founded. "We are in a huge crisis, and the education system doesn't seem to understand that. The reality is we need to delay a portion of it."
 
 Still, a realization is growing in school districts throughout the state of the benefits that Thornton could provide. As required by the law, districts are preparing master plans on how to spend the money. At least 20 school boards have offered teacher salary increases. Ten school systems say they've used this year's installment to add teachers to reduce class sizes.
 
 Baltimore County spent $657,000 to add 18 positions in kindergarten and first grade for class-size reduction.
 
 Those improvements, said Del. Richard S. Madaleno Jr., a Montgomery County Democrat, could change the focus of the debate from whether to cut back to how to keep going.
 
 "We're moving from this amorphous $1.3 billion, to 'In Harford County, you get reduced class sizes,'" Madaleno said.
 
 One area of the school funding plan is receiving particular attention: a mandate for all-day kindergarten by 2007.
 
 More flexibility
 
 Local superintendents told lawmakers last week that they want state funding to stay at promised levels, but some say they would like to see the kindergarten requirement relaxed.
 
 "Any time you ask a superintendent if they want flexibility, the answer is 'Yes,'" said St. Mary's County schools superintendent Pat Richardson.
 
 But state schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick said that if the state alters the kindergarten requirement - which she supports leaving in place - the money going to school districts would have to be reduced.
 
 "If we have a breach of that piece of Thornton, then we have to look at how we assign the dollars," she said.
 
 
 Copyright © 2003, The Baltimore Sun