Prince George’s County wants credit from Maryland for some tax revenues its school system already gets.
But Prince George’s County schools said that’s tantamount to a budget cut worth tens of millions of dollars — even as one lawmaker notes it’s still getting a substantial increase in funding compared to last year.
The county already allocates more than 60% of its overall budget directly to schools. Maryland law prohibits local governments from cutting school funding. At a minimum, whatever was doled out the year before has to be provided again.
On top of that, new mandates have arrived in the form of what’s known as the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, which demands significant funding from the state and counties, and even more funding in school systems that experience high levels of poverty.
While the funding mandates related to the program are the reason the state is projecting a multibillion-dollar budget deficit in the coming years, they have rapidly increased the financial pressures on Prince George’s County even faster.
On Wednesday morning, two bills passed a Prince George’s County House Delegation’s subcommittee, which would allow the county to receive credit for tax revenues generated by certain sales and uses of energy and telecom services. Currently, it’s money the school system gets on top of what the county budget provides.
“We have asked the counties, and particularly Prince George’s County, to greatly increase their local share — a drastic increase in what the state is mandating that the county put into public education,” noted Del. Ben Barnes, who defended the bill. “At the same time … the state is putting much more money into education, doing our part. This was a dramatic increase for Prince George’s.”
Barnes admitted it was a tough bill, but he said the tax revenue was provided to the schools at a time when it was impossible to generate revenue for the school system any other way. Referring to the Blueprint, Barnes said the world “has changed 180″ degrees since then.
“They need to provide world-class education, which is what the Blueprint does,” Barnes said. “It demands world class education and funding to reach world class education. But if we’re going to demand that of them, of the state, we have to give them tools to actually make that match. And actually having an antiquated law out here that requires that they provide world-class education, and then money above that, isn’t realistic.”
The General Assembly passed the Blueprint in 2021.
Joining the meeting late was Prince George’s County schools Superintendent Millard House II. A source in Annapolis said House wasn’t invited. After joining the virtual meeting, House was given the opportunity to discuss his opposition.
Alluding to a letter about the legislation he wrote earlier this year, describing the impact as “catastrophic,” he again warned state lawmakers from the county what it would really mean. His comments came after the two bills were passed by the committee.
“What we learned is that this could be potentially a $64 million cut for the school district,” House said. “It could mean hundreds of jobs,” as well as “cuts of significant programs,” he added.
Barnes was no longer in the committee meeting when House made those comments, but he alluded to those warnings with some skepticism earlier in the meeting.
“They’re getting $90 million more this year than last year between the county match and the state mandate,” Barnes said. House’s warnings, he added, “did not make sense for me, for what the actual reality is on the ground.”
The county’s full house delegation will vote on the two bills Friday morning. There’s at least some resistance to them among the delegation.
However, a member of the council argued the county needs the bills to pass as budget season begins to take shape.
If it clears the Maryland House delegation on Friday, the state Senate delegation would also have to approve the measure before it goes to the full legislature. Typically local bills that make it that far are passed as courtesy to the lawmakers from that area.
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