Crafting the Third Wave of Education Reform

Crafting the Third Wave of Education Reform
Maryland has historically been on the cutting edge of education reform, as evidenced by significant improvements in student test scores over the past decade. This, plus the 82% increase in education funding since 2002, has lead to Maryland schools being ranked first in the country for two consecutive years. Maryland is eligible for up to $250M in education funding from the federal government, under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. If Maryland receives the maximum funding, every county in the State could receive additional education funding from the federal government.

Governor O'Malley introduced the Education Reform Act of 2010 that will not only make Maryland more effective in competing for the Race to the Top funds, but also begin the third wave of education reform, in order to continue the success of Maryland schools. The legislation:

• Increases the length of time for a new teacher to achieve tenure from two years to three years. Currently, a teacher is eligible for tenure after two years in Maryland, with an additional year possible for teachers that do not meet the evaluation requirements. At two years, Maryland has one of the lowest teacher tenure durations in the country: 33 states require 3 years for teacher tenure and 8 states have more than 4 years. The legislation also requires student growth data to be used in teacher and principal evaluations.
  
• Provides for local jurisdictions to implement differentiated pay programs to attract high-performing teachers to low-performing schools. The bill would provide stipends to teachers and principals in the lowest achieving 5% of Title I schools. Incentive pay programs have been piloted in Prince George's County, and parts of Baltimore City and Queen Anne's counties. Currently, 90% of Maryland teachers are “highly qualified”, yet Maryland ranks last in the country for distribution of highly qualified teachers to the State's lowest performing schools.
  

Capping Tuition Costs Next Year
After a record 40% tuition increase last term, the legislature and the O'Malley Administration froze tuition for four straight years at Maryland public colleges and universities. After this record investment to make college more accessible and affordable, we again took prudent action to pass the Tuition Stabilization Act, that caps in-state tuition growth at 3% for the 2010-2011 school year. This means that tuition for Maryland universities rose only 3% in five years, at a time when many states are seeing double-digit increases over the same period of time.

Funding School Construction
This year's capital budget funds $250M in school construction, totaling $1.25 billion over the last four years. While we are making record investments in funding for teachers, textbooks and programs, it is also important that we continue to modernize school facilities and provide the best learning environment possible to our students.