LEADERSHIP THAT WORKS: Opening the Doors of Educational Opportunity for All Marylanders
En Español
Martin O’Malley and Anthony Brown believe that, to fulfill Maryland’s potential, we must return to building a world-class education system and ensure opportunity for all Maryland children. We need to focus on giving students, teachers and parents the resources they need to succeed. The state must help our communities and families by ensuring that those resources are used effectively by eliminating bureaucracy and moving money into the classroom. We must also invest in early childhood education, where we can make a great difference for long-term educational success. Our economy and our society also demand that we ensure that the opportunities that a college education brings are affordable to all Maryland families.
Paths to Progress
As Maryland’s next Governor, Martin O’Malley will:
- Build New Schools and Reduce Class Size. Martin O’Malley will dedicate funds based on the recommendations of the Kopp Commission’s study on school construction, allowing us to upgrade existing facilities, build new schools and, in the process, reduce class size.
- Fully Fund the Thornton Education Plan. Martin O’Malley will fully fund the entire Thornton Commission plan to improve K-12 education across Maryland, reduce the achievement gap, reduce class sizes and recruit and retain the quality teachers our children deserve.
- Increase Accountability and Make Sure Education Dollars Are Spent in the Classroom. Martin O’Malley will increase the State’s accountability of precious education dollars to ensure that more money goes into the classroom and not into bureaucracy and paperwork.
- Recruit and Retain the Best Teachers. Martin O’Malley will increase teacher pensions and incentive programs to keep our most effective, veteran teachers on staff. O’Malley will also recruit young teachers, keep them in their fields of expertise, and revitalize teacher mentoring programs.
- Give Families Relief from Soaring Tuition Costs. Martin O’Malley will provide public colleges and universities with enough funds that they can keep tuition low for Maryland students. State colleges and universities must be accessible to our state’s families, and O’Malley will work with college presidents to address funding issues.
- Invest in Vocational and Technical Education and Life Long Education. Martin O’Malley believes that, in order for the State of Maryland to remain competitive in the 21st Century economy, we need to encourage and invest in life-long education and vocational and technical training for more Marylanders.
- Promote Maryland’s Community Colleges. Martin O’Malley will increase funding to Maryland’s valuable community college system. Two years of college education have proven to double a person’s lifetime earnings, and community colleges are crucial to creating the workforce that will drive Maryland forward in the coming decades.
- Expand Access to College for Those Willing to Serve in Needed Areas. Martin O’Malley will open the doors of opportunity for deserving students and address Maryland’s nursing shortage by awarding scholarships to students who agree to work as nurses for at least four years after graduating from college.
A Record of Progress
- Martin O’Malley has seen test scores in elementary schools rise dramatically during his tenure. For example, when Martin O’Malley came into office only 16% of Baltimore’s third graders met the state’s reading standards. O’Malley, in partnership with dedicated teachers and parents, helped 61% of the third graders meet those state standards last year. And they're just part of a rising tide of achievement.
- Martin O’Malley, as Mayor of Baltimore, loaned the Baltimore City Public School System $42 million in emergency funds to keep the school system financially stable and maintain teachers’ contracts.
- Martin O’Malley led the Believe in our Schools program, which recruited thousands of volunteers and made more than $10 million in additional improvements to Baltimore’s schools.
- Martin O’Malley has helped Baltimore’s high school graduation rate increase to the highest it’s been since 1986.
- Martin O’Malley proposed a $75 million increase for school construction in Baltimore, the largest single increase in the City’s history. During his tenure, O’Malley has increased school construction funding by 58%.
Maryland Can Do Better
- As Governor, Bob Ehrlich refused to sign the Thornton education funding plan and pressured lawmakers to oppose it.
- Bob Ehrlich does not support and does not fund the Geographic Cost of Education Index, which would provide vital education funds to many communities across the state.
- Bob Ehrlich has failed to fully fund school construction in Maryland to a tune of $300 million as recommended by Kopp Commission on school construction.
- In Bob Ehrlich’s first three years, tuition at Maryland’s public colleges and universities increased by more than 40%, earning Maryland an “F� for college affordability in a recent nationwide survey. Bob Ehrlich’s decisions have made the dream of a college education a distant reality for many hard-working Maryland families.
- Bob Ehrlich tried to break Baltimore teachers’ contracts and the city had to resort to an emergency loan to keep its schools in session and teachers on the job.
- Bob Ehrlich under-funded teacher pensions so badly that they are now the lowest in the nation.
Bob Ehrlich and Education – No Goals. Failed Leadership.
A Stronger Maryland Can Do Better.
Martin O'Malley and Anthony Brown –
Leadership That Works
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