The O'Malley Blog

Gov. O’Malley introduces emergency bill to protect Maryland families from foreclosures

Earlier today, Governor O'Malley sent an email about the national foreclosure crisis and what we're doing in Maryland to end it.

Take a minute to read the email and then send a letter to your state legislator asking them to support Governor O'Malley's emergency bill to protect our families and communities from foreclosures:

Imagine having to look your children in the eyes and tell them you'll have to leave your home, maybe your whole community, for good.

Over the course of the national foreclosure crisis, thousands of Marylanders haven't had to imagine this ordeal. They've lived it. And every uprooted family, every boarded-up house, affects all of us -- our neighborhoods, our towns and cities, our state.

We can help more families stay in their homes -- by forcing mortgage companies to give homeowners facing foreclosure a chance to negotiate better terms on their loans. Yesterday, Rep. Elijah Cummings and I urged the General Assembly to pass an emergency bill to do just that.

Join us in taking action today. Urge your state legislators to support the bill, and help protect our families and communities from foreclosures:

http://www.martinomalley.com/SavingHomes

Since 2007, we've helped thousands of families hold onto their homes through programs like the Homeowners Preserving Equity (HOPE) initiative.

But thousands more could be saved if we act together to stop huge, faceless mortgage companies from crushing homeowners under their heel because they're more concerned with profits than with helping families stay in their homes.

Writing your legislators will only take a few minutes, and your support of this emergency bill could have an immediate impact.

The emergency bill just needs three-fifths of the votes in the General Assembly to pass and be enacted immediately.

Help make today the beginning of the end of the foreclosure crisis in Maryland. Write your state legislators now:

http://www.martinomalley.com/SavingHomes

Thank you,

Gov. Martin O'Malley

Governor O’Malley Introduces Education Reform Legislation

On the heels of the College Board’s release of its annual report ranking Maryland #1 in the nation for Advance Placement scores for a second straight year and Education Week Magazine’s second straight #1 ranking for Maryland public schools, Governor Martin O’Malley today introduced legislation to further reform Maryland schools as State education leaders prepare to apply for federal “Race to the Top” funding. 

The Governor’s Education Reform Act of 2010 includes reforms in the following major categories:

Teacher Tenure

Currently, a teacher is eligible for tenure after a two-year probationary period. If the teacher does not meet the requirements for tenure after two years, he or she is assigned a mentor during a third year of teaching and re-evaluated for tenure after that year.

This bill extends the period before a teacher is eligible for tenure from two years to three years. This is the same length of time required by at least 33 other states. To promote teacher effectiveness, the bill also provides for additional mentoring and professional development for non-tenured teachers who need additional support.

Student Growth in Evaluations

As set forth in the federal Race to the Top guidelines, the Education Reform Act of 2010 requires that student growth data be a significant factor in the evaluations of teachers and principals.  However, because of the complex factors that affect student performance, the bill also requires that other factors be considered as well. The State Board of Education will establish a framework to help guide the implementation of these requirements at the local level.   Schools systems that participate in the State’s Race to the Top application may be subject to additional requirements regarding student growth data.

Differentiated Pay

State law already authorizes differentiated pay programs to attract highly effective teachers and principals to low-performing schools or hard to staff subjects.  Under the Education Reform Act of 2010, the State would provide additional stipends to teachers and principals in the lowest achieving five percent of Title I schools in improvement, corrective action, or restructuring.  Implementation of this stipend program is contingent upon Maryland’s receipt of Race to the Top funds.

Each school system that participates in the State’s Race to the Top application will be required to develop a plan that includes strategies to promote the equitable distribution of teachers and or principals across their districts, including their high-poverty and/or high-minority schools as well as hard to staff subjects and specialty areas.

State of the State 2010

Earlier today, Governor O'Malley delivered the 2010 State of the State Address to the Maryland General Assembly.

Read the speech here.

Text of Governor O’Malley’s State of the State Address

Governor O'Malley just delivered the 2010 State of the State address to the Maryland General Assembly, urging legislators to take action on an agenda focused intently on creating jobs here in Maryland. We've posted the text of the speech as prepared here.

Live-Tweeting the State of the State

We'll be live-tweeting during Governor O'Malley's State of the State address today at noon on the campaign's Twitter account, @governoromalley. Follow along and join the conversation!