O’Malley-Brown Administration Invests $5.3 billion in K-12 education; Holds line on tuition for three years in a row
MARYLAND – In the year and a half since Governor Martin O’Malley and Lt. Governor Anthony Brown took their oaths of office, their Administration has made historic investments in education and workforce creation. Now, the rest of the country is starting to take notice.
In July, the Milken Institute ranked Maryland #1 in the nation in terms of State investments in “human capital” (while moving Maryland from #4 to #2 in its national bioscience rankings). This comes of the heels of Education Week naming Maryland’s public school system as one of the three best in the country and Forbes saying the Old Line State has one of the nation’s three most highly skilled workforces.”
“In Maryland, we’re united in our commitment to investing in our greatest resource: the talents, the skills, the ingenuity of our people,” said Governor O’Malley. “It’s no coincidence that we’re able to have both one of the most highly skilled workforces in the nation and one of the best public school systems.”
The O’Malley-Brown Administration is making a record $5.3 billion investment in K-12 education, which includes $741 million for school construction (a 300 percent increase in funding versus the previous Administration).
“Our predecessors stuck us with temporary learning shacks,” said Lt. Governor Brown. “We believe the children of our State deserve better,”
The O’Malley-Brown investments are already paying dividends. This year,
Maryland elementary and middle school students had their best showing ever in the Maryland Student Assessment testing. Elementary math and reading scores are up 29% versus where they were five years ago. And there has been significant progress toward closing the achievement gap between minority students and their white counterparts.
As an example of Maryland students’ successes, Baltimore City elementary and middle school students earned their highest scores in both reading and math since MSA testing began. Three years ago, 48 percent of Baltimore fifth graders scored at least proficiently in math. This year, 67 percent scored proficiently.
The O’Malley-Brown Administration is also making significant investments in higher education. After the previous Administration hiked up in-state tuition by 40% at state colleges and universities, the O’Malley-Brown Administration has been able to told the line on tuition for three years in a row.
The Administration is also making important investments community colleges, increasing operational funding by 39% versus the comparable period in the previous administration – and making a new $150 million investment in facility upgrades. They’ve also increased adult literacy funding by 400%.
Governor O’Malley and Lt. Governor Brown have also created a “P-20 Council” to align the State’s education system with the needs of it’s workforce, with the Council’s first charge to create a statewide plan for improving Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math education or STEM.
“At the end of the day our greatness as a State is going to be determined by what we do in the here and now to invest in each other. To invest in our potential, to invest in our skills, and to invest in our capabilities,” said Governor O’Malley.
