House Passes Education Reform Bill Three Years in the Making
The House of Delegates erupted in cheers late Friday as a Democratic majority passed a sweeping education reform bill meant to overhaul Maryland’s public schools over the next decade.
The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future bill ― a $3.8 billion reform plan ― aims to expand pre-kindergarten programs and career education for high schoolers, increase pay and career opportunities for teachers, and boost state funding for schools with high concentrations of poverty.
Also included in the bill is a proposed new education funding formula, which would guide the increased state and local education spending and direct more resources to low-income students, those in special education programs and those learning English.
Democrats cast the vote as a historic moment for racial and economic equity.
“The disparities in achievement between racial and socioeconomic and ethnic communities are unacceptable … it’s morally indefensible,” said House Appropriations Chairwoman Maggie L. McIntosh (D-Baltimore City), a former school teacher who was a member of the Kirwan Commission on Innovation and Excellence and Education that crafted the recommendations on education policy and funding reforms.
Read more: https://www.marylandmatters.org/2020/03/07/house-passes-education-reform-bill-three-years-in-the-making/