Funding

Baltimore City Council Rejects Proposal To Reduce Funding For Charter Schools. WJZ-TV Baltimore (9/26, Barnett) reports the Baltimore City Council voted unanimously to reject a proposal by school officials to decrease funding for the city’s charter schools, including some of the city’s highest performing schools. The Baltimore Sun (9/26, Anderson) reports that the proposal would have cut funding to 26 of the city’s 34 charter schools. The Maryland Alliance of Public Charter Schools organized a rally attended by hundreds of students, parents, and teachers in support of preserving funding for the charter schools. Many wore shirts with the slogan, “#SAVE THE CHARTERS BMORE”, and chanted “Hear our voices. Hear our choices. Hear our voices. Save our Choices.” Maryland Governor Larry Hogan recently shifted $68 million in state funding from education to the underfunded pension system putting pressure on many districts in the state to make up for the lost funding. Baltimore lost $11.6 million from the change. Editorial: Colorado Needs To Talk About Education Funding. The Longmont (CO) Times-Call (9/28) editorializes a recent case decided by the Colorado Supreme Court should be a wake-up call to the state to fix education funding. The editorial criticized the premise of the case because even if the plaintiffs had won, there was no money in state accounts that could have been used to fulfill the court’s order. The editorial goes on to say that instead people who want to change the state’s education funding should be pushing for a change in the law to increase funding. Michigan, Pennsylvania Have The Most School Districts With “Junk” Credit Ratings. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (9/26, Ferral) reports Pennsylvania has the second most number of school districts with “junk” credit ratings; Michigan has the most. Poor credit ratings make it harder for districts to borrow money, making it more expensive for them to take action to improve schools. Arizona Lawmakers Considering Voter Initiative That Would Change School Funding. The Arizona Daily Sun (9/26, Fischer) reports some Arizona legislators are planning to ask voters to approve a ballot initiative that would change state education funding. The law since 2000 has required the state to match actual inflation in education funding up to 2%. Arizona Senate President Andy Biggs wants to change the law to increase state education funding by 1.6% every year regardless of inflation. Biggs said the change is a good deal for the state because current inflation is near 1.1%, but critics say the law would be costly if inflation picks back up again. The initiative would also reverse a court ruling that determined the state owed $330 million to the state’s schools instead of $74 million.