Gov. William Donald Schaefer yesterday criticized the school-funding lawsuit filed against the state this week, calling it "misguided and poorly timed" and warning that it will intensify anti-Baltimore sentiment among suburban residents and lawmakers.
In an unexpectedly forceful denunciation of a legal tactic he once employed himself, the governor also harshly criticized the city school system, saying city schools "benefited especially well" from huge increases in state aid during his two terms, but had little to show for it.
Handing out charts and graphs illustrating how an increase of $775 million in state aid for Maryland schools has been distributed since 1987, Mr. Schaefer said aid to city schools increased by 68 percent while enrollment there increased by only 3 percent.
"If money alone was the key to a good education, then Baltimore City would be showing substantial gains in its students' performance," he said. "Seven years of spending increases have instead brought disappointing test scores, falling attendance, higher dropout rates and lower student readiness."
The governor said if he were not about to leave office in six weeks, he would ask the attorney general to hire the best outside legal counsel the state could afford "to fight [the lawsuit] right on down the line."
He also said the state should seriously consider taking over Baltimore's troubled school system, just as it took over and improved the city's community college and jail.
The class-action suit, filed against the state Dec. 6 by the American Civil Liberties Union, asks Baltimore's Circuit Court to declare Maryland's method of financing schools unconstitutional because it deprives city students of the resources for an "adequate" education.
Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke said this week that the city would file its own school-funding lawsuit against the state by the end of the month.
ACLU executive director Stuart Comstock-Gay said, "In our lawsuit, we are not claming that money and only money is what you need. In fact, our lawsuit is not about money directly. It is about outcome.
"The fact is that kids in Baltimore City are not being well educated, and that is something that needs to be addressed. Part of the answer is money. But there are any number of other things that can be part of it too."
Mayor Schmoke was out of town and unavailable for comment, " but spokesman Clinton R. Coleman said he was surprised at the governor's tone because it was then-Mayor Schaefer who in 1979 filed a similar, though ultimately unsuccessful, suit against the state.
Mr. Coleman said that suit was "trying to achieve the same goals years ago. I don't believe the governor can fault the mayor for trying to achieve the best possible education for the children of Baltimore City.
"All I can tell you is that the mayor has tried every other means of achieving equitable school funding for the city, through the legislative process and through other means. And it has not worked," Mr. Coleman said.
Governor Schaefer said school aid is scheduled to increase by another $128 million next year, but warned that the lawsuit "could threaten the continuation of this expansion." If the courts should order additional increases in education spending, he added, that "could only come at the expense of other local aid. It is simple math."
Although it is true the state has pumped millions of dollars of increased aid into city schools, per-pupil spending in Baltimore, at $5,391 during the 1992-1993 school year, is still slightly below the state average of $5,978. Per-pupil spending ranged from $7,544 in Montgomery County to $4,898 in Caroline County.
In testimony before a school funding commission last fall, Baltimore School Superintendent Walter G. Amprey said the city needs at least $127 million more to ensure "adequacy." That would increase per-pupil spending in the city, with an estimated annual operating budget of $630 million a year, by $1,213 per pupil, roughly the gap between spending in the city and in Baltimore and Howard counties.
Dr. Amprey could not be reached yesterday to comment on Mr. Schaefer's remarks.