Three million dollars may not sound like a lot in the context of Maryland's $14 billion operating budget, but with the state desperate to close a $2 billion spending gap, even pennies add up. So why is Gov. Martin O'Malley proposing to spend already scarce education dollars on a freebie for affluent families who really don't need it?
On Tuesday, Mr. O'Malley announced a plan to waive the fees students pay to take the Advanced Placement and PSAT tests. Instead of families bearing the costs of the tests, Mr. O'Malley wants the state to pick up the tab.
High school students can earn college credits if they score well on the AP exams, and the PSAT is a sort of practice test for sophomores and juniors that serves as a precursor to the SAT , which many colleges and universities require for admission.
Mr. O'Malley is touting his proposal as a way of ensuring that more students are prepared for college, and in recent years state and local educators have made getting more students to take the AP tests a priority. Maryland currently leads the nation in the percentage of its graduates who take and pass at least one of the exams, with nearly a quarter of all students taking the tests last year.
But Baltimore City and Prince George's County, which have the state's highest concentrations of students from poor families, already pay the full cost for all students in their systems who take the test, and Baltimore County similarly waives the PSAT fee for students in its jurisdiction. That makes sense, because students from disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to be deterred by the cost from taking AP classes and exams.
Middle-class and wealthy families, by contrast, have shown they can well afford to pay the $86 fee for each AP test – a significant investment, to be sure, but one that also can pay big dividends in reducing the overall cost of a college education if a student scores well. The fact that so many students from well-off backgrounds are already taking the tests – sometimes several in a single year – suggests that they are hardly being deterred from pursuing Advanced Placement credits by the cost of the exams.
As governor, Mr. O'Malley has made education a centerpiece of his administration, and waiving AP and PSAT fees for state students is the second education initiative he has announced this campaign season. Normally, removing a financial hurdle for students preparing for college – as he did during his first term by capping tuition increases at state schools – would be wise policy and a laudable goal.
But in these tough times there are too many other pressing needs that impact children's ability to learn to justify handing out freebies to those that need them least. In particular, expanding Pre-K and other early education programs that prepare youngsters to succeed in school during their formative years would be a far better use of scarce resources -- and more directly affect the ability of middle-class families to give their kids a quality education.
Mr. O'Malley may have been hoping to win votes in the state's affluent communities, where college attendance is expected as a matter of course and most families are well able to shoulder the costs of applying. That's understandable in an election year, but still poor policy given Maryland's current financial straits. A better alternative would be to use the money to expand early education opportunities for families with young children. Right now, that's where Maryland is likely to get the biggest bang for its buck, and Mr. O'Malley can demonstrate his commitment to education – and to the efficient use of limited state resources – more clearly there than anywhere else.