Board of Education → About: Legislative Platform
Legislative Platform
2008 Session of the Maryland General Assembly
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The Montgomery County Board of Education has adopted this legislative platform for the 2008
session of the Maryland General Assembly. The platform provides a vehicle for summarizing the
Board’s positions on priority issues without precluding the consideration of additional legislative and
budget issues that arise during the legislative session.
Legislative Platform (1.2M PDF)
School Construction
Background
The FY 2009 state Capital Improvements Program (CIP) request for Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) is $132,835,000. This figure is based on current eligibility of projects approved by the Montgomery County Council in May 2007. Of the $132.8 million request, $2.2 million is for two projects (Downcounty Consortium Elementary School #28 (Arcola) and Parkland Middle School), for which MCPS has already received state planning approval and partial state funding in a prior year. Approximately $5.5 million is for four projects that have not been approved by the state for planning, but have been forward-funded with local funds and opened August 2007. These forward-funded projects do not have expenditures in FY 2009 and will only be eligible for state bond funding through calendar year 2008. If these projects do not receive state funding before calendar year 2009, MCPS can only be reimbursed for state-eligible expenditures with current revenue (Paygo). This will limit the state’s ability to provide funds for these projects. It is imperative that MCPS receive state planning approval and construction funding in FY 2009 for these projects to avoid the possibility that they will not be eligible for state bond funding.
The balance of the $132.8 million is for projects that will require state planning approval, but already have been programmed for funding by the Montgomery County Council. None of the projects for which we are requesting construction funding in our FY 2009 State CIP have prior state planning approval. In the past, the state has granted planning approval for projects prior to allocating construction funds, if the local government previously approved those projects. However, the state is no longer routinely granting planning approval but, instead, is prioritizing projects for planning approval based on a state-developed process. As a result, MCPS only has two projects that have planning approval from the state. The FY 2009 request includes 29 projects that will be requested for planning approval. Of the 29 projects, 26 are being requested for both state planning approval and construction funding.
Based on MCPS capital improvement needs, consideration needs to be given to the following points:
- Limited state funding for school construction has forced Montgomery County to forward-fund critical projects that are eligible for state funding, but cannot be delayed until state funds are available. A mechanism needs to be developed to ensure locally forward-funded projects remain eligible for state funding, even if the project is completed.
- Funding is needed for systemic projects, such as roofing and HVAC (heating/ventilation/air conditioning). Approximately $3.4 million is needed for these projects in FY 2009. The state’s new $200,000 (up from $100,000) minimum request level for systemic renovations will leave some projects ineligible for state funding.
- The state’s capacity formula and square-footage-per-pupil allowance need to reflect the realities of state and federal education mandates, such as mandatory full-day kindergarten and targeted 2 pre-kindergarten programs. The current formula and square-footage allowances do not provide adequate space to meet these mandates.
- The State Public School Construction Program (PSCP) uses an administrative process for granting planning approval for projects submitted to the Interagency Committee (IAC) for funding that discriminates against large counties like Montgomery. Planning approval is the “gate keeper” step in the school construction funding process that determines whether a project is “eligible” for state funding or considered a locally funded project. The current process for granting planning approval allocates one planning approval per LEA and then cycles back to add more planning approvals until the estimated cost of the projects approved matches the estimated amount of funding the program will have to fund. Larger LEAs with many projects are not granted planning approval, and, therefore, are forced to submit many projects for funding that are technically considered “ineligible” for state funding. This process needs to be changed to allow the legitimate funding needs of larger LEAs to be recognized.
- The Aging Schools Program (ASP) has provided funds for certain capital maintenance replacement projects. A moderate increase in the Aging Schools Program funding would provide additional funding to more schools that qualify for these capital maintenance programs. Instead, the state has consolidated the ASP and Qualified Zone Academy Bond (QZAB) funds, reducing the ASP funding available to MCPS from $1.023 million to $0.6 million. At the same time, the QZAB allocation was increased to $0.578 million. It is important to understand that the ASP funding can be used for projects at many more schools than QZAB funding and has no in-kind matching requirement or restrictions on which schools can use the funding. As a result, a number of ASP and QZAB projects were deferred in FY 2008. ASP funding is a critical component of our school maintenance strategy.
Recommendations
State school-construction funds continue to be inadequate to meet the substantial capital funding needs of MCPS and other school systems. As a result of the efforts of legislators and advocates, public school construction received over $322 million for FY 2007 and $401.3 for FY 2008. The Montgomery County Board of Education supports at least $400 million in state capital funding for FY 2009 to address the school facility needs identified in our local CIP. Given the magnitude of the needs across Maryland, support has broadened for the state to take on more debt to pay for school construction. The Board of Education supports consideration of expanding the state’s bonding capacity to meet the growing school facilities needs in Maryland. The Board also would welcome a review of current standards for IAC square footage allowances for new and modernized schools. In addition, any future efforts to combine ASP and QZAB funding should be rejected, along with any efforts to reduce ASP funding below the $1.023 million legislated for Montgomery County in FY 2006.
Education Funding
Background
During the last seven years, Montgomery County has increased local funding for the operating budget from $871.9 million in FY 2000 to $1.456 billion in FY 2008, an increase of 67 percent (an average of 8.4 percent per year). This funding has made possible $122 million in new and enhanced initiatives to expand full-day kindergarten and pre-kindergarten programs for low-income children, reduce class size, support special education and ESOL students, modernize technology, and improve accountability.
Since the adoption of the Bridge to Excellence in Public Schools Act (BTE) in 2002, state aid to the county has increased by $180 million. Unfortunately, the law has not been fully funded as envisioned by the Commission on Education Finance, Equity, and Excellence (Thornton Commission) and the General Assembly. The Geographic Cost of Education Index (GCEI), which recognizes the higher cost of education in certain jurisdictions, including Montgomery County, has not been funded. In FY 2008, the county would have received $22 million from the GCEI.
Recently, the governor proposed a comprehensive fiscal plan that includes phase-in of the GCEI over three years from FY 2009 through FY 2011. This phase-in would cost Montgomery County $20 million in FY 2009 compared with full funding. The governor also proposed a two-year freeze of the mandated inflation adjustment that maintains state aid at an adequate level. After the two-year delay, the inflation adjustment would be capped at 2.5 percent annually, regardless of the rate of inflation. Adoption of this proposal would cost Montgomery County approximately $19 million in FY 2009 compared with current law and more in future years. Together, these proposals would result in a shortfall of approximately $39 million in state aid in FY 2009 compared with the current requirements of the BTE law.
Recommendations
The Board of Education supports full funding of the Bridge to Excellence in Public Schools Act of 2002, including funding of the Geographic Cost of Education Index. Because FY 2008 marked the final year of the phase-in of the 2002 law, the legislature should reaffirm the principles of the legislation by continuing to mandate an annual inflation adjustment based on current law and to mandate full funding of the Geographic Cost of Education Index (GCEI). This will assure that the state share of education funding will be maintained as provided by the Bridge to Excellence Act. The Maintenance of Effort requirement should support the goal of ensuring that local contributions are consistent with the education adequacy requirements of the 2002 law. Additional funding should be supported for adult education programs that support classes in adult literacy and English for Speakers of Other Languages.
Special Student Populations
Background
MCPS and the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) share costs incurred for providing appropriate special education services for students with significant educational disabilities who are served in nonpublic schools. The local school system has funded 300 percent of the average per pupil cost plus 20 percent of the excess costs of the nonpublic tuition. Through the Nonpublic Tuition Assistance Program, MSDE funded the remaining 80 percent of the excess costs of financing nonpublic school tuition. The successful efforts of legislators and education advocates have resisted attempts to change the 80/20 cost sharing formula to increase the local school system share.
During the 2004 legislative session, the General Assembly also modified the longstanding reimbursement formula for educational services provided at the State Regional Institutes for Children and Adolescents (RICA), located in Baltimore, Montgomery, and Prince George’s counties, operated by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH). Montgomery County traditionally received less than one-third of its costs from this reimbursement, with two-thirds paid through local taxes. The private school tuition reimbursement formula passed in 2004 paid local districts even less and added an unnecessary administrative burden. Recognizing this problem, in 2005 the legislature restored funding for RICA as it existed before FY 2005. The Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act of 2005 repealed the local cost-sharing requirement for RICA students beginning in FY 2006 and, beginning in FY 2007, prohibited DHMH from billing local school systems for supplementary services provided to RICA students. However, DHMH took the position that the funds designated for the local school systems by the state are needed to cover RICA administrative costs, not educational costs. As a result, MCPS has not received any reimbursement from DHMH for educational services provided at the RICA program since the 2006-07 school year, resulting in a loss of $1.3 million annually to MCPS. In addition, the state has already made harmful cuts in funding for therapeutic services provided at RICA by DHMH.
Thousands of low-income children in Maryland depend on school meals for the nutrition they need to learn and grow. Unfortunately, too many children do not take advantage of school meal programs. Researchers have found that classroom breakfast has a positive impact on grades and test scores and improves student attendance, decreases tardiness, and increases students’ attention spans. The Maryland Meals for Achievement (MMFA) program, which began as a pilot in 1998, provides funding for schools with high concentrations of poverty to offer breakfast in the classroom daily to all students, regardless of family income. Under state law, any school that participates in the federal School Breakfast Program and has at least 40 percent of its enrollment approved for free or reducedprice meals can apply to become a Maryland Meals for Achievement school. Montgomery County, which began MMFA in September 1999 with one school, currently has 29 participating schools. However, 31 Montgomery County schools that were eligible to participate in the program and applied were not approved for participation because adequate state funding is not available. All 60 eligible schools have applied to be included in the MMFA program.
Recommendations
The Board of Education opposes proposals at the state level to increase the local share of nonpublic placement tuition costs for local school systems. MSDE’s Nonpublic Tuition Assistance Program has been beneficial in supporting our obligation to provide appropriate services to students who require intensive special education programming. The state reimbursement for educational services at the Regional Institutes for Children and Adolescents also must be restored. DHMH must be held accountable for conforming to the legal requirement to fund educational services at the RICA sites. The state also should restore full funding for therapeutic services at the RICA sites. Funding for the Maryland Meals for Achievement program should be increased, at a minimum, to accommodate all schools in the state that meet the current eligibility criteria, and additional expansion should be considered.
Comprehensive Master Plan
Background
The Bridge to Excellence in Public Schools Act of 2003 requires school systems in Maryland to—
- Develop a five-year comprehensive master plan describing goals, objectives, and strategies to improve performance for all students;
- Align the school district’s budget with the master plan and show specifically how the use of resources will address the goals and objectives of the plan;
- Address the No Child Left Behind Act achievement goals in the master plan; and
- Ensure meaningful community involvement in the development of the master plan
The Montgomery County Board of Education has supported changes to the law that allows school systems that have well-defined, well-designed, and well-deployed strategic plans and accountability systems that meet the requirement of the law to submit these plans, in place of the master plans, to the state superintendent of schools. The Montgomery County Board of Education has advocated for accountability measures that can be used to monitor the progress of the school system to ensure that all students are achieving at high levels. In Montgomery County, this means not only that all students should meet the state’s proficiency levels on the Maryland School Assessments and the High School Assessments, but also meet higher standards based on targets established by our Board of Education.
The MCPS strategic plan, Our Call to Action: Pursuit of Excellence, is a rigorous, systematic, systemic, results-driven strategic planning process that is responsive to and aligned with student and stakeholder needs. The strategic planning process addresses the requirements of, and is aligned with, the Maryland Bridge to Excellence Act. The multilayered MCPS process integrates and deploys planning efforts throughout the school system with built-in cycles of evaluation and refinement.
Our Call to Action: Pursuit of Excellence meets all the requirements of the law and should be accepted as our master plan. The Board of Education updates the strategic plan every year and uses the plan as the MCPS accountability system. This plan has guided the work of the school system for eight years. It is embedded in the work of every school and office. Creating a separate master plan in addition to the strategic plan duplicates work already done and requires extensive efforts that are not aligned with planning processes in Montgomery County. It requires substantial additional work with little added value.
The current law allows a county Board of Education to submit a pre-existing strategic plan to the MSDE as the county board’s plan required by this law. However, the current law allows the state superintendent to determine whether the pre-existing plan meets the state’s requirements. It also allows the state superintendent to establish requirements beyond those that are established in the law.
Recommendations
The Montgomery County Board of Education supports amendments to Section 5– 401 of the Education Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland to—
- Eliminate the state superintendent’s ability to require additional information from local boards beyond the requirements of the Bridge to Excellence Act, without the approval of the General Assembly.
- Eliminate the requirement that a county board cannot implement a plan until it is approved by the state superintendent.
- Require that a local school Board’s strategic plan shall be presumed to satisfy the state’s requirements for a comprehensive master plan as long as it describes the goals, objectives, and strategies that will be used to improve student achievement and meets state performance standards and local performance standards in each segment of the student population, as specified in the Bridge to Excellence Act.
Early Childhood Education
State and local investments in high-quality early childhood education strengthen the opportunity for coordination between early childhood programs and public schools. MCPS has completed the implementation of full-day kindergarten at all 124 eligible schools, as required by the Bridge to Excellence Act of 2002. Early childhood opportunities have been expanded and MPCS now serves more than 3,000 pre-kindergarten students.
Recommendations
The Board of Education supports statewide initiatives that provide funding for and access to affordable, high-quality early childhood programs, including child care services, that are aligned with state and local school system learning standards and goals. State funding should support local school system efforts to provide training for staff in community-based preschool and child care programs. The state should support proven literacy-based pre-kindergarten program models, such as the one offered by Montgomery County Public Schools, and support efforts that encourage the provision of an array of services by a variety of agencies that complement the educational component. An increase in funding for the Purchase of Care (POC) program would permit more low-income children to benefit from community-based pre-kindergarten programs. The POC program is a child care subsidy program that helps limited-income families pay for child care while parents work or attend school or job training.
School Safety
Background
Safety in public schools has become increasingly important to local boards of education, as threats to national and community security have taken on new meaning in recent years. Montgomery County public officials and school administrators have worked tirelessly to ensure student and staff safety at all levels. While prevention of disruption and violence has always been a key component of long-term effective school safety strategies, the federal No Child Left Behind Act requires that states must allow students who attend a persistently dangerous school to transfer to another school. The adverse impact of gang activity and gang-related crimes on the safety of students and staff, as well as the delivery of quality education, also must be considered.
Recommendations
The Board of Education supports innovative initiatives that address gang prevention and involvement and speak to strategies that ensure a safe and secure learning and working environment for students and staff. Funding and implementation of these initiatives should be a collaborative responsibility of state and local agencies, and unfunded state legislative mandates should be avoided.
Personnel and Retirement
Background
The inadequacy of Maryland’s teacher pension system resulted in a successful effort supported by the Montgomery County Board of Education and delegation to pass legislation in 2006 to significantly improve the system. Without continuous improvement of programs that support employees, the ability to attract and retain highly qualified staff to serve public school children in our county and across the state remains in jeopardy.
Recommendations
As envisioned through passage of the Bridge to Excellence Act, the teacher retirement program should continue to be fully funded and maintained as a state-funded categorical program. The Board of Education opposes any shift in funding responsibility for teacher retirement costs from the state to county governments and local school systems. An evaluation process should be in place for monitoring and updating employee benefits programs, such as the teacher pension system, to ensure the successful recruitment and retention of public school teachers and staff.
Opposition to Public Funding for Private Schools
Background
Nonpublic schools are neither subject to state accountability measures nor to the same legal requirements as public schools, such as those set out in special education laws and teacher certification regulations. With the many unmet needs in public schools, state funds must be used to address the growing needs of students in MCPS and throughout the state..
Recommendations
While acknowledging current federal mandates for use of public funds for public school students in Title I schools, as well as public funding provided for public school students educated in nonpublic special education placements, the Board opposes the appropriation of public funds for private and parochial schools and direct aid to private and parochial students.
Local School Board Authority
Background
While the State Board of Education establishes, through regulations, broad statewide policies and mandates, it is the responsibility of the local board to establish policies and procedures for the public schools within its jurisdiction. Likewise, it is the authority of local boards to develop curriculum within the broad guidelines set by the State Board. The program of studies in each school system is developed as a whole and is linked to state and local assessments. Legislative proposals that speak to public charter schools can only be supported to the extent that the proposals reaffirm that the sole authority for establishing public charter schools is vested in local boards of education and that commensurate funding means resources equal to what is allocated to similar schools in the district, excluding central administrative expenditures and other expenditures that may be provided in kind. Efforts to expand charter school authority beyond local school boards, or otherwise weaken academic or fiscal accountability requirements, should be opposed.
Recommendations
The Montgomery County Board of Education supports local control of educational policy, administration, and curriculum, and opposes any legislative initiatives that have the effect of reducing local and State Board authority or creating unfunded mandates. By retaining decision-making authority at the local level, a local board of education can best balance educational practices, available resources, public input, and accountability.
Adopted November 15, 2007
Updated December 19, 2007 |Maintained by Web Services | Content Manager Glenda Rose