Blueprint presents county funding challenges

Unfunded education mandates pose future budget impacts

On Tuesday, Charles public school system officials updated the county commissioners on how the all-encompassing Blueprint for Maryland’s Future will affect county budgets in the future.

Christina Miller, the school system’s coordinator of district innovation, and Karen Acton, superintendent of fiscal services for Charles public schools, gave a presentation on the effects the state plan will have on education.

The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future passed the Maryland General Assembly last spring and presents a laundry list of changes to how education functions in the state of Maryland.

Nearly every sector of education will be changed in some way, from increasing opportunities for prekindergarten education to new college and career readiness requirements for secondary education.

Blueprint also mandates a new teacher career track, which mandates more classroom time for educators and administrators.

With new mandates come new costs, some of which will have to be paid by county governments.

“This is going to be a heavy lift over the next few years,” Jennifer Ellin, county director of fiscal and administrative services, said.

Acton presented an array of mandates presented in Blueprint that will not be funded by the state. That includes mandated starting salary increases for teachers to a minimum of $60,000 per year, on top of incremental salary increases between now and July 2024.

Funding for additional prekindergarten staff and bus transportation for dual enrollment students was not provided by Blueprint, which means counties will have to fit those bills, too.

All of that will not come cheap.

Acton referred to the upcoming spending

increases over the next five years as “substantial.” For example the costs of increased salaries for teachers could run a minimum of $10 million over the next five years.

Commissioner Gilbert “BJ” O. Bowling III (D) expressed concern that the state was not adding additional funding for the mandates, stating that education funding needs to be a two-way street.

Commissioner President Reuben B. Collins II (D) echoed Bowling’s concerns.

“I understand where the legislature is going with this, but the reality is it’s

going to be a challenge,” Collins said about extra funding requirements brought on by Blueprint.

How the mandated education spending will affect county budgets will be seen early next year, when the Charles school board presents its budget request to the county in February.

Accountability board requirements set

After several weeks of conversation, Charles commissioners agreed with a unanimous vote on eligibility standards for members of its police accountability board.

Members of the nine-member board that will oversee issues of policing in the county must

have been a resident of the county for at least six months before applying for membership.

Residents under probation orders, convicted of a misdemeanor with a jail term greater than one year or a felony will be disqualified from eligibility.

Eligibility standards also clarified that the chairperson must have extensive knowledge of police practices and professional experience interacting with the criminal justice system.

The establishment of a police accountability board is one of the requirements of the Maryland Police Accountability Act of 2021 that was passed during the Maryland General Assembly session last spring.