040209 action needed city schools funding decreased in senate budget bill

8/14/2019 040209 ACTION NEEDED City Schools Funding Decreased in Senate Budget Bill

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April2,2009

DearColleagues,Friends,FamiliesandSupportersofCitySchools:

Iamwritingtoalertyoutoagravedangertothefutureofourchildren. LastFriday,theSenateBudgetand

TaxationCommitteeproposedchangestotheBudgetBill,discussedandadoptedyesterdayinthefullSenate,

thatthreatenfundingforeducationforthiscomingfiscalyearandforyearstocome.Mostnotably,the

proposalcutkeyeducationfundingformulasthatwerecontainedintheGovernorsproposedbudgetandinthe

HouseversionoftheBudgetBill. Yesterday,theSenatevotedtoapprovethesechanges.

Specifically,theSenateBudgetBillcontainsthefollowingprovisions:

a. Reductionoftheproportionofpaymentforthecostofnonpublicplacementsfrom80/20to70/30(thisisalsopartoftheHouseBudgetBill).

b. Taking40%ofthefundsallocatedforGCEI(thegeographicindex)andputtingitintothePublicSchoolConstructionProgram(withoutguaranteestothedistrictslosingdollars) reducingGCEIfundingtoa60

percentlevelinFY2010.GCEIispartofThornton,andboththeGovernorsbudgetandtheHouse

versionoftheBudgetBillproposedtofunditat100%. Thisrepresentsacutofalmost$9Minour

budget.c. TheinflationfactorisnotreinstatedinFY11andFY12aspreviouslyadoptedbytheNovember2007SpecialSession.

d. Changingtheapplicationofthesupplementalgrantfrom1%to.5%inFY2011,thendowntoaflatholdharmless

in

FY

2012.

e. EliminatingthemandatedinflationfactorincreaseinthestudenttransportationgrantinFY2011andFY2012.

TheimpactoftheseproposedcutsonBaltimoreCitydwarfsthelossofopportunityanyfundingthatwewill

receiveasaresultofthestimulusdollarscomingtoCitySchoolsfromthefederalgovernmentasformuladriven

grantssuchasTitleI(forfreeandreducedluncheligiblestudents)andIDEA(forstudentswithdisabilities).We

estimatetheimpacttobe$12MinFY2010,$36.5MinFY2011and$70.8MinFY2012(whenthereisno

guaranteeoffederalstimulusfunding). Theseestimatedfiguresrepresentareductioninfundingcomparedwith

whatwewouldhaveexpectedundertheNovember2007SpecialSessionfundinglevels. Thesefiguresdonot

includereductionsinconstructionfundingforagingschoolsorschoolimprovementfundingthatCitySchools

receivedinthepast(whichaggregatetothelossofanother$6M).IwanttothankSenatorsJoanCarterConwayandLisaGladdenforadvocatingforcefullythatthesechanges

shouldnothappen. IhavegreatfaithinourCityDelegationandtrustthattheSenateandHousememberson

theConferenceCommitteewillagreetotheHouseversionoftheBudgetBill.WhiletheHouseversionreduces

ourCitySchoolsbudgetby$3MinFY2010(incomparisonwiththeGovernorsproposedbudget),itrepresents

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anacceptablecompromiseinthesetougheconomictimes.

Anythingelse,especiallychangesinthefundingformulasforeducationnextyearandintothefuture,cannot

holdintheabsenceoflengthydebateandfullaccountabilityforallinvolved. ThecurrentSenateBudgetBill

shouldbeunacceptabletotheparentsofpublicschoolchildrenthroughouttheStateofMaryland,becauseit

impactstheentirestate,notsimplyBaltimoreCity.

PleaseusetheenclosedlisttocalloremailyourlocalsenatoranddelegateTODAYandmakesurethateducation

isnotcut. Urgethemtocalltheconferees.Theeducationofchildrenisthepillaruponwhicheverysociety

shouldbebuilt. Thekidsshouldmattermost,anditisourobligationtoensurethatweprotecttheirrightto

adequateeducationalresources. Thankyouforyouradvocacyonbehalfofourkids.

Sincerely,

AndresA.Alonso,Ed.D. BrianMorris,Chair

ChiefExecutive

Officer

Baltimore

City

Board

of

School

Commissioners

CallYourElectedOfficials:

Sen.CatherineE.Pugh(District40)410.841.3656 catherine.pugh@senate.state.md.us

Del.FrankM.ConawayJr.(District40)410.841.3189 frank.conaway@house.state.md.us

Del.BarbaraA.Robinson(District40)410.841.3545 barbara.robinson@house.state.md.us

Del.ShawnA.Tarrant(District40)410.841.3030 shawn.tarrant@house.state.md.us

Sen.LisaA.Gladden(District41)410.841.3697 lisa.gladden@senate.state.md.us

Del.JillP.Carter(District41)410.841.3782 jill.carter@house.state.md.us

Del.NathanielOaks(District41)410.841.3283 nathaniel.oaks@house.state.md.us

Del.Samuel

Rosenberg

(District

41)

410.841.3297

samuel.rosenberg@house.state.md.us

Sen.JoanCarterConway(District43)410.841.3145 joan.carter.conway@senate.state.md.us

Del.CurtisS.Anderson(District43)410.841.3291 curt.anderson@house.state.md.us

Del.AnnMarieDoory(District43)410.841.3476 annmarie.doory@house.state.md.us

Del.MaggieMcIntosh(District43)410.841.3990 maggie.mcintosh@house.state.md.us

Sen.VernaL.Jones(District44)410.841.3612 verna.jones@senate.state.md.us

Del.KeithE.Haynes(District44)410.841.3801 keith.haynes@house.state.md.us

Del.RuthM.Kirk(District44)410.841.3802 ruth.kirk@house.state.md.us

Del.MelvinM.Stukes(District44)410.841.3544 melvin.stukes@house.state.md.us

Sen.NathanielJ.McFadden(District45)410.841.3165 nathaniel.mcfadden@senate.state.md.us

Del.TalmadgeBranch(District45)410.841.3398 talmadge.branch@house.state.md.us

Del.CherylD.Glenn(District45)410.841.3257 cheryl.glenn@house.state.md.us

Del.HattieN.Harrison(District45)410.841.3486 hattie.harrison@house.state.md.us

Sen.GeorgeW.DellaJr.(District46)410.841.3600 george.della@senate.state.md.usDel.PeterA.Hammen(District46)410.841.377 peter.hammen@house.state.md.us

Del.CarolynJ.Krysiak(District46)410.841.3303 carolyn.krysiak@house.state.md.us

Del.BrianK.McHale(District46)410.841.3319 brian.mchale@house.state.md.us