Iowa
and Maryland Rally for Increased School Funding In late January and early
February, thousands of advocates, educators, parents, and students rallied to
support increased education funding in Maryland
and Iowa. These concerned citizens have taken to the
streets to demand from their legislators the necessary funds to provide all students
with the opportunity for a quality public education. Maryland
On February 9, 2004, an estimated 8,000 educators, parents, advocacy groups, and
students marched to the Maryland State House in Annapolis, the state capitol,
to demand full funding of the "Thornton Plan." In 2002, Maryland's Commission
on Education Finance, Equity, and Excellence ("Thornton Commission"), acting on
two years of research and the recommendations of two
costing-out studies, proposed a modern,
standards-based, cost-based finance system and recommended a $1.3 billion
annual increase in education funding, which the legislature enacted into law to
be phased in over six years. The Governor has stressed that the future of Thornton
funding is in jeopardy and may necessitate spreading state contribution out over
more years or easing some of the provisions of the Thornton Plan. According
to the Carroll County
Times, speakers at the rally encouraged state representatives to support education
and claimed that the rally was an opportunity for the "people [to] talk to their
leaders." Although Maryland has fulfilled the first two years of "Thornton funding"
and the governor proposed $326 million for the third year in his budget, many
advocates, including the rally's organizers, the Coalition
for Public School Funding, believe an additional $45 million is needed to
fully satisfy the Thornton Plan. Iowa Advocates
in Iowa rallied in Des Moines on January 27 to call on their elected officials
to increase funding for educational opportunities across the state. Advocates
are demanding a 6% spending increase of $211 million, while the governor and many
legislators have suggested a $116 million, or 2% percent, increase. The rally
was sponsored by the Fund Our Future Coalition, an organization whose membership
includes Iowa
PTA, Iowa State Education Association,
Iowa Association of School Boards,
and School Administrators of
Iowa. Recent litigation in Iowa has highlighted
the deficiencies of the state's education finance system. In April 2002, a coalition
of 160 school districts and individual plaintiffs brought suit in state district
court, alleging that the current finance system violates the Iowa constitution's
education clause because it creates significant disparities in educational resources
and does not provide resources necessary for an adequate education. The trial
is scheduled to begin November 1, 2004. Prepared February 10,
2004
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