Issue Position: Educational Priority

Issue Position

A strong educational system is the linchpin to improving the economy, restoring home values, and breaking once and for all, the school-to-prison-pipeline.
Currently, it costs about $13,000 to educate a child, and about $16,000 to incarcerate…….it is clear where our investment should be.
ISSUE: Our current legislators in 23B have failed to fight for Prince George's County's "fair share" of state aid. We have lost approx $100M over the last several years because of the failure to act.
SITUATION: State funding is allocated using an "inverse wealth" formula. Simply stated, the state takes the "net income" of all residents and determines the "relative wealth" of each county. Wealthier counties get more, poorer counties get less. In 2007 the federal filing deadline changed from Aug 1st to Oct 15th. Unfortunately, the state did not change the date by which they do their wealth assessment. Since wealthier folks and business tend to file late, a large portion of income is NOT accounted for. The Impact: Prince George's County looks wealthier than it actually is, and Montgomery County looks poorer than it actually is.
REMEDY: If our legislators would act, Prince George's County would net an additional $13M per year in state educational aid, and Montgomery County would lose approx $25M per year. I represented our county against all other Boards of Education in 2007 when this issue first appeared but there were no legislators willing to take on the fight. We were told it would be addressed in 2008.
IRONY: Collectively, the 2 incumbents have been in Annapolis for 52 years. This has been an issue for 7 years and again we were told at the end of the last legislative session that it will be addressed next year. Meanwhile, we receive postcards in the mail touting how much state funding has been "brought home", while we cannot afford to bring back parent liaisons, teachers are still purchasing their own classroom supplies, and we continue to have a $2B backlog of facilities that need repair. It's time for a change…..Vote Ron Watson.

2. Prince George's County 2nd from the Bottom?
Let's clear up this fallacy once and for all. This has been the standard "tag line" for all politicians for a long time now and someone needs to speak the truth.
TRUTH: Over the last several years 2000-2012 the following has happened in Prince George's County:
White population has decreased 33.8%
Black population has increased 10.6%
Hispanic population has increased 142.7%
This change in demographics continues to impact the "At-Risk" population of our school district. Currently, PGCPS has the largest percentage of Limited English Proficiency (LEP) students, 3rd larger population of students on "Free and Reduced-price Meals", and the 6th largest population of Special Education Students.
All tolled, Prince George's has the 3rd largest population of "At-Risk" students. That being said, NOW lets see why we are "at the bottom"……..
Howard County (Ranked #2 in the state) has the 2nd lowest number of At-Risk students but receives the 5th largest amount of per-pupil funding
Montgomery County (Ranked #10 in the state) is ranked 12th in the number of At-Risk students, but receives the 4th largest amount of per-pupil funding, and
Prince George's County (Ranked #23 in the state) is ranked 3rd in the number of At-Risk students, but receives the 7th largest amount of per pupil funding
SUMMARY: We have a higher At-Risk student population, but schools districts with "less challenges" are receiving much more. We must have legislators who are willing to fight for the funding we need to properly educate our children and if our residents are serious about changing this trend, we must have new ways of solving these old problems. Our current legislators in 23B have had 52 years to solve the problem identified above. Do we really want to continue to hide the underlying problem and keep electing the same folks? Make the difference……Vote Ron Watson.
SOURCE: Overview of Local Maryland Governments 2014
http://dls.state.md.us

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