More News

A Prince George's County school bus traveled Wednesday to Annapolis, but there were no students aboard.

Instead, the bus carried a dozen parents and school board members heading to testify before the Senate Budget and Taxation and Committee on behalf of the Equity in State Aid to Counties Act of 2010, which would distribute aid more evenly between Prince George's County and wealthier counties.

Senate Bill 835, filed in February by Ulysses Currie (D-Dist. 25) of District Heights and Douglas J.J. Peters (D-Dist. 23) of Bowie, seeks to include tax returns through Nov. 1 when determining a county's wealth. Currently, state aid to counties is calculated based on residents' county income tax returns filed by Aug. 15. However, Peters and Currie say wealthier residents in other counties tend to file their taxes late in October, after the deadline used to calculate county aid, causing wealthier counties to receive more aid than they should.

State aid to county school systems is based directly on property taxes and school enrollment numbers, with wealthier counties receiving less state aid.

On average, one in four Montgomery County residents will file their taxes late, as compared to one in nearly 500 Prince George's County residents who file late, school board Vice Chairman Ron Watson told the committee Wednesday afternoon, which can cause Montgomery County to seem less wealthy than it is.

"We have great challenges, and that is why it was shocking to learn that the governor added more than $100 million in education funding to the [state] budget and Prince George's loses $23 million," Watson said, referring to state aid for schools.

Officials frequently cited Montgomery County as an example because of its similarity in size and the disparity in funding.

Montgomery County Public Schools' budget is estimated at $2.26 billion for fiscal 2011, compared with Prince George's education budget of $1.66 billion. Montgomery County has nearly 142,000 students this year, whereas Prince George's County has almost 130,000 students this year.

Prince George's Board of Education has requested $867 million in state funding for 2011 — the same amount it received in 2010 — representing 52 percent of the total 2011 budget.

Montgomery County's Board of Education has requested $488 million in state funding, which is $48 million more than its current state funding, Montgomery County schools spokeswoman Kate Harrison said.

Traditionally, Montgomery County's government has footed the bill for 70 percent of its school funding, whereas Prince George's County usually funds about 50 percent of the county schools' budget.

But Prince George's school officials say they are concerned that the county will likely be losing state funding, in a year when Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) added an additional $100 million to the state budget for education.

A date for a vote on the bill has not yet been posted. If approved, the legislation would go into effect June 1 and would be applicable to state aid calculations in fiscal 2012.

Prince George's schools Superintendent William Hite Jr. asked the committee to consider the proposed legislation, acknowledging that its approval would not help the school system's financial situation next year, but would prevent the budget from being in such a bleak state afterward, he said.

"Some are advantaged through the current system, but students in Prince George's County are disadvantaged," Hite said. "Instead, we're operating in a system where we are increasing class size, furloughing and cutting programs."

On Feb. 27, the Prince George's County school board voted 7-1 to approve the $1.66 billion budget for fiscal 2011, a $45 million cut from the current budget that forced the elimination of nearly 800 positions, including 178 teachers and 120 parent liaisons. The plan also includes furloughs of up to 10 days for employees.

Accokeek parent Denise Foskey asked the committee Wednesday to consider the bill for the sake of county programs and personnel.

"We realize the statewide financial challenges; however, as a parent with kids in schools, it's my job to support this bill," Foskey said. "Without maintaining our present funding, Prince George's County public schools cannot maintain progress."

E-mail Megan McKeever at mmckeever@gazette.net.