Teachers unions rally to support controversial education bill

Educators, parents, and Montgomery County leaders met at Montgomery Blair High School on Wednesday, Nov. 6 as the Coalition for the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future rallied support for Maryland Senate Bill 1030. This bill was made public on Tuesday, Oct. 15. Maryland’s Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education, a 26-member panel made up of legislators, educators, business people and state leaders—branded The Kirwan Commission for its chairman, William E. “Brit” Kirwan—recommended the state of Maryland and county governments should spend $4 billion extra on public schools. This work group says that this is a necessary step toward returning the state’s schools to the best in the nation. 

The Nov. 6 meeting was led by the Maryland State Education Association (MSEA) and attended by representatives from MCPS Board of Education, MCCPTA leadership, Montgomery County Council members, and County Executive Marc Elrich.

The plan, which was developed over three years and completed in April after extensive research by this group, would provide $850 million in extra state funding to public schools over two years from July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2022. This money is primarily for increasing teacher pay, expanding prekindergarten, and putting extra services such as health care into schools in high-poverty areas. The commission also recommends using funding to establish a strong accountability system to oversee its recommendations.

The extra funding for such programs advised and required would be shared between the state and local governments. By 2030, this will mean that the approximately $2.8 billion extra from the state will need to be supplemented by another $1.2 billion extra from the 23 Maryland counties and Baltimore City. This funding would be an addition to the local areas’ current budgets. 

Mandating that each county fill in the gap beyond the share that the state provides would mean that Montgomery County, for one, would need to contribute an additional $238 million per year. This could lead to problems getting a buy-in from the General Assembly. 

While legislators may put the funding recommendations into law, they may also make changes to the details before presenting the bill to Governor Hogan, who has indicated that he will veto it in its current state. Governor Hogan, at the Maryland Association of Counties Meeting this summer, reasoned that the unanswered question is where the money will come from. “They took this action without any regard to funding formulas and with absolutely no plan whatsoever for how any of your counties or the state taxpayers could possibly pay for any of it,” Hogan said.

Since the Kirwan commission assumes no responsibility for the payment of its plan, the responsibility will likely fall to the tax-payers. Some political lobbying groups such as Change Maryland Inc. and Change Maryland Action Fund are attempting to rebrand the so-called Kirwan commission, as the “Kirwan Tax Hike Commission.” 

Governor Hogan released a statement on Oct. 22 stating, “Even after more than three years of meetings, there is still no clear plan whatsoever for how either the state or the counties will pay this massive price tag.” Ideas include an across-the-board property tax increases, local income taxes, legalized gambling that would be taxed or taxing the sale of recreational marjuana, Bill Ferguson of the Maryland Legislative Committee said, as reported on WBAL TV.  

Hogan wrote, “I have significant reservations about your short-sighted methods for implementing the Kirwan Commission’s final recommendations—namely that they will lead to massive increases in expenditures without providing the fiscal safeguards and much-needed accountability our students, parents, teachers, and taxpayers deserve. Remember that not only would the Kirwan plan require massive tax increases at the state level, but the legislature would have to change state law to force counties to increase taxes.”

At the Maryland Association of Counties meeting, Hogan said, “I know that county leaders are just as concerned as I am and as the taxpayers are.” 

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich supported Hogan’s views at the Maryland State Education Association (MSEA) led meeting at Montgomery Blair High School on Nov 6, stating that current funding ideas are oversimplified and that we need to get better fiscally and also consider income generated from recreational drugs for funding. 

“We have been doing 10 year projections and it is true revenues go up, but so do the expenses,” Elrich said. “I will say that one of the efforts we are making in my government is figuring out how we can resize the county government to run this place more efficiently,” he added.

On the subject of a marijuana tax, Elrich said, “It’s a boatload of money… at the end of the day, people say that it is immoral, let’s not talk about morality. If you are gonna do it, maybe you ought to think about keeping the revenue to fund some of the things we know we need.” 

However, Governor Hogan is in agreement with another point by the proposed bill, which calls for the creation of an Office of Inspector General to investigate complaints of waste, fraud and abuse in public schools, something the Governor has repeatedly suggested.

While there is a lot of praise for the Kirwan Commission and ideological approval for their recommendations, the implementation and procedures that would have to accompany the Kirwan Commission’s proposals are unclear. Parents and citizens present at the meeting, when asked, expressed support, questions and concerns.  

Ashley Smith, a Montgomery County resident who grew up in Germantown but lives and works in Rockville, said, “Like usual, hard working middle class families with two working parents will foot the bill and be forced to move to more affordable counties.”

However, Smith also said that she is all for paying teachers well in order for them to be able to pay back student loans within three to five years of working. On the topic of the proposal’s priorities, she said, “We already have Title One schools where funds are allocated to economically challenged areas, while preschool is good for socialization, parents should be working full time before taxpayers foot the bill for this.”

Andrea Coleman, a parent who works as a nurse for Montgomery County, is hopeful that the proposal will bring positive change. “The socioeconomic disparities that exist within our educational system are appalling. A free education should not come at the cost of a quality education. If implemented, it is my hope that a more equitable foundation can be established through this proposal,” she said.

Tammy Webber, a parent who has been following and analyzing the Kirwan study and the proposed legislation, said, “I am against increasing funding for free daycare. Early childhood is a time when toddlers benefit from the nurturing and care that is consistent and when little ones learn the values of their family. Learning at home until children are school age leads to securely bonded children that are less susceptible to the ideas they encounter in schools and media which may not align with the values of their own families.”

Anna Wyman, a high school student, commented on the bullet points of the proposal saying, “I agree with the priorities, but it is like spending money that we don’t have.” On the subject of funding through a marijuana tax or gambling tax, she also said, “I’m not too keen about legalizing marijuana because nothing good can come of it. I don’t think that gambling is a bad thing but it is sort of like alcohol.”  

Nancy Fiallo, a parent and employee of Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), said that she had not heard of the Kirwan report previously. Regarding the priorities in the proposal and the need for funding, Fiallo said, “I think that paying more, expounding Pre-K programs, and providing community resources to needy families are all good places to put extra money. I am not quite sure that I support programs that don’t have good suggestions as to where the money will come from. I am not in favor of higher taxes to support this. I am not in favor of legalizing marijuana or furthering legalized gambling. I think that doing this will only create bigger problems that will then need further support. To me, it’s like throwing good money after bad. I don’t hope the bill passes without a clear understanding as to where the money will come from.”

Similarly, Matt Wade, a parent and resident of Montgomery County, agreed that heart of the bill supports a good cause. “I read this bill in its entirety and, at first glance, one cannot argue that training and competitive pay for teachers is good. Early preschool for needy families and extra services for schools in communities with high concentrations of poverty helps to bump up achievement in populations that have historically struggled,” Wade said. “Who can argue with that? I think Montgomery County is already focusing a great deal along this line.”

However, Wade also voiced some concerns with the bill’s entirety. “There are important things missing from this bill, however. It is heavily focused on bringing low-achieving students up to par, but there is almost no mention of bringing students on par up to their fullest potential. Saying that we are helping all students is disingenuous if all doesn’t actually mean all. Let’s be real though,” he said. 

Parent Melissa Wade said that she came to the meeting to hear what politicians were saying and noted the same. She said, “There was not one mention of what they are doing for kids who are not low achievers. My observation is that behavioral expectations are at an all time low.  My kids started out bright and eager to learn before their light bulbs were nearly extinguished in their MCPS middle school. We need order returned to our schools so that kids who want to learn can. Our kids don’t even want to go to school. They feel like they are there to bring the averages up but have to go to school on Saturday to learn.” 

Tracy Potts of the Montgomery County Council of Parent Teacher Associations (MCCPTA), was on the panel and said that, although all of the priorities of the proposal are important, she thinks that the need to recruit qualified and diverse teachers who represent the community is the point that excites her the most. 

“Especially that high quality and diversity of teachers is so important,” Potts said, “The biggest need that I see as a parent and as a parent leader is lack of equity—equity and diversity. We daily realize that black and brown students need more support in this county.”

“As a mom and as a parent leader, I see and I get a chance to visit a lot of schools and talk to a lot of teachers. They need so much more in certain neighborhoods,” Potts continued. “High quality and diversity of teachers and leaders is so important, especially that diversity is so important. They need to see teachers who look like them because they need to learn, but they are going to learn when they make that connection with their teacher. That’s the first thing that needs to happen.” 

Richard Montgomery senior and Montgomery County Regional Student Government (MCR-SGA) President Pranav Tadikonda was also on the panel and chose funding of early education as his favorite when asked.  He recalled working with his parents to learn phonemic awareness before kindergarten and said, “But what about all the other students who didn’t have parents with two of them at home giving their children an early head start to be ready for kindergarten? To be honest, that does take a toll. It builds up for years and years. There is a correlation between students who don’t have that access to early education and those who don’t do well later, so I definitely think that this funding of early education will get rid of a huge barrier.”  

Public opinion about whether the legislature and governor should allow Bill 1030 to become law is also generally mixed. Teachers’ unions across Maryland are holding rallies and forums like the one in Montgomery County. Governor Hogan’s spokesman, Mike Ricci released a statement saying, “Marylanders deserve more accountability and better outcomes, not pie-in-the-sky unfunded spending proposals.” 

The Kirwan Commission’s plan is set to be debated in the 2020 General Assembly legislative session in January.

Article by J.P. King of Richard Montgomery High School

Graphic by Sophie Zheng of Cabin John Middle School