It seems in the world of education everything is always changing with the exception being parent concerns. The top priorities expressed last week during a public budget input session all sound familiar – small class sizes, competitive teacher salaries and modern technology options. A review of articles from 10 and 15 years on the same type of meeting confirms similar priorities.
When the fiscal year reaches the half-way point at the end of this month, governments will begin immediately working on their budgets. In fact, many financial officers are already working on the next year’s budget process.
The public school system is a critical part of the process in Worcester County, as more than half of the county’s total spending goes to schools. The county funds nearly 75% of the school system’s $123 million budget with 17% of funding derived from the state and about 9% from the federal government.
Worcester County taxpayers bear an incredible burden when it comes to funding public education. Worcester currently receives the least amount of aid from the state compared to other Maryland jurisdictions. Worcester’s current per pupil aid from the state of $3,783 is far below the state average of $8,000. Over the last five years, the slightly good news is per pupil state aid has increased 25%, from $3,029 in fiscal year 2019, but it remains unfair. A silver lining is the five-year percentage increase in Worcester is slightly higher than the average increase of 23%.
According to the Maryland State Department of Education, no other jurisdiction in Maryland receives less than $4,000 in state aid per pupil. For what it’s worth, Talbot County is the next lowest to Worcester at $4,053. Neighboring Wicomico County receives $12,405 and Somerset County gets $14,659 as a comparison.
Worcester’s elevated property values crush it as far as state funding, and there’s no change coming soon with the new Blueprint for Maryland legislation. It’s expected the local funding burden will only increase in future years, as the state legislative package includes numerous unfunded mandates like the requirement starting teacher salaries increase to an average of $60,000 in five years (from the current in Worcester of about $48,000).
While the winds of change continue to swirl around public education, troubling local officials, the concerns and priorities of parents remain relatively unchanged from year to year. Familiar statements were made by parents representing local schools at last week’s budget input sessions. The most discussed topics were once again competitive teacher salaries, small teacher-to-student classroom ratios and focuses on technology and materials of instruction.
The challenge moving ahead will be for Worcester officials to continue to meet its requirements of funding education at the Maintenance of Effort level while growing the commitment to meet the new challenges of the legislation and growing needs inside the classrooms. The year after an election is typically the time when property tax increases are most considered. The subject will be discussed early and often next year.
