In testimony before Maryland legislators, Harford County Executive Barry Glassman supported the Kirwan Commission’s goals for education and proposed piloting its entire plan in Baltimore City while continuing its ramp up of teacher salaries statewide.
County Executive Glassman’s proposal for Baltimore City would be in years one through five of Kirwan’s 10-year implementation phase and be fully funded by the state.
“This approach would allow us to pilot this program in Baltimore City and to test its various elements across the foundation program and evaluate it at the end of five years,” he said. “In the meantime it would allow all Maryland jurisdictions to move ahead with the Kirwan Commission’s teacher salary increase recommendations.”
In addition, County Executive Glassman offered the following proposals to legislators who are considering the education bill based on the Kirwan Commission’s recommendations, formally known as the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future – Implementation:
- Implement Kirwan’s special education recommendations immediately in all 24 Maryland jurisdictions;
- Implement Kirwan’s Career Ladder for Educators statewide, and begin to develop a recruitment and training program to meet the need for additional teachers in the collaborative-teaching phase of the Kirwan plan;
- Develop a detailed plan to evaluate the results of the Baltimore City pilot related to cost, performance and results, and make adjustments prior to implementing the Kirwan recommendations statewide in year six; and
- Set a goal in the legislation for all local governments to contribute at least 40% of their local revenue to education funding. Harford County invests approximately 50% annually.
In his testimony County Executive Glassman concluded: “I realize that these ideas are somewhat out of the box, but I do believe they would not only make this effort more affordable for the state, but would also give local jurisdictions an opportunity to gear up for implementation in year six.”
