ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Maryland lawmakers began scrutinizing on Monday education legislation that would cost billions of dollars to carry out but supporters say would make the state’s public education system world-class.
The legislature’s education and budget committees met jointly to hear public comment on the legislation, The Baltimore Sun reported. The recommended legislation originated from a blue-ribbon commission led by former University System of Maryland Chancellor William Kirwan.
The commission’s report called for expanding prekindergarten, increasing salaries for teachers and improving college- and career-ready programs in high schools.
“If Maryland would just do this, it would become the leader for education reform in our country,” Kirwan said. He participated in a rally before the hearing, which attracted more than 100 people to sign up and testify.
The plan, pushed by legislative Democrats, would cost an additional $4 billion annually within 10 years. The state’s portion would reach $2.8 billion, with local governments paying the rest. Republican lawmakers and GOP Gov. Larry Hogan are critical of the legislation because it doesn’t say from where the money should originate.
Hogan tweeted on Monday that “there is no funding mechanism anywhere in the bill’s 199 pages, but proponents insist on running up the tab with no real plan to pay for it.” Democrats hold veto-proof majorities in both the House and Senate.
Baltimore Mayor Jack Young testified that the Kirwan report is so important because too many young people with poor education end up dead on the city’s streets. But Young said the amount that Baltimore would have to pay - calculated at $340 million annually -“is simply beyond our current capacity,” Young testified.
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