The Baltimore school system's legislative wish list for the coming Maryland General Assembly session reflects concerns about another expected state budget shortfall and the continuing debate on the composition of school boards.
Ranked highest among the city schools' legislative priorities are maintaining its current or comparable levels of funding and opposing any measures that would shift additional costs to the district. The school board is also preparing to oppose any legislation that would support the election, or partial election, of city school board members.
The most significant budgetary issue for the school system is the possibility of the state transferring teacher pension costs to local districts, a measure that could throw a wrench in school district budgets statewide.
For Baltimore, it would mean at least a $5 million hit to the city schools budget, said Mike Frist, chief financial officer for the school system, who added that a shift of pension costs to the local boards "will have a tremendous impact on city schools." The school system's budget totals $1.23 billion.
Similarly, the school system is hoping that its current support from the city will be sustained. If the city chooses to pursue a waiver from its state-mandated maintenance-of-effort funding, the school system would have to absorb approximately $208 million in extra costs.
Frist said the school system has no reason to believe that the city would not keep up its maintenance of effort. Baltimore was one of the few districts that did not lobby the state for a waiver last year. But the board is prepared to oppose any such measure in the coming budget cycle, school officials said.
School system officials are also preparing to fight any move to elect all or a portion of the city school board, a recurring debate that city school board President Neil Duke said he anticipates will heat up again this legislative session. Duke testified before the state's Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee in February to oppose a Senate bill that sought an elected school board.
Duke said his research of elected school boards across the nation has led him to believe that one in Baltimore would be "an injustice to our students," because it would change the dynamics and motives of members whose decisions could be driven by pleasing their constituents.
"One size doesn't fit all, educationally, and while elected school boards may certainly have their place in certain districts, based on the demographics involved, I think the chemistry we have here in Baltimore seems to be working for us," Duke said.
He said the appointed school board has proven its effectiveness through rising student achievement and the recent high-profile successes of the district. "We're driven by student outcomes, regardless of the politics that would play themselves out," he said.
The school system will have an advocate in Annapolis during the session that begins Jan. 12, as a former employee has joined the city's delegation. Sen. Bill Ferguson won his seat representing Baltimore's 46th District in November, fresh from a job in the office of schools CEO Andrés Alonso.
Ferguson says he shares the same legislative agenda as city schools, particularly in trying to strengthen the state's charter school law, lobbying for public and charter school facility funds, and "working diligently to tell the right story about Baltimore's need to sustain the funding at its current level to ensure we can keep the track on the improvement."
Ferguson, who ran on an education platform, said that this year's budget is not conducive to reform — which has defined Baltimore education in the past year — but that the state should prioritize.
Gov. Martin O'Malley has already hinted that all school districts could feel cuts to their share of so-called Thornton funding.
"We only have two responsibilities: balancing the budget and funding education," Ferguson said. "We need to make sure that our $32 billion budget is meeting those priorities."