ANNAPOLIS, MD – School district leaders in Baltimore, Montgomery and Prince George’s counties released the following joint statement in support of the efforts of their county executives and legislative delegations to increase school construction funding in their respective jurisdictions:

“All children deserve modern, safe and efficient school buildings in which to learn. Unfortunately, too many of our students attend school in cramped, outdated buildings and portable classrooms that don’t support a 21^st century education. Today, the chief executives of Maryland’s three largest counties are launching an unprecedented joint effort to work with the Maryland General Assembly and the Governor to give our students school facilities befitting a state with a national reputation for educational excellence.

“Together, our counties educate nearly half of the students in the state and half of the students impacted by poverty. An investment in the children of these three school districts is an investment in the future of Maryland.

Increasing the state investment in school construction will allow our communities the ability to leverage state and local dollars to immediately begin addressing pressing needs in each of our districts. We look forward to working with our respective delegations, Governor O’Malley, Senate President Mike Miller and Speaker Mike Busch to make this plan a reality this year.”

 
SIGNED:

- Lawrence Schmidt, President, Baltimore County Board of Education    

- S. Dallas Dance, Superintendent, Baltimore County Public Schools

- Phil Kauffman, President, Montgomery County Board of Education

- Joshua P. Starr, Superintendent, Montgomery County Public Schools

- Segun Eubanks, Chair, Prince George’s County Board of Education

- Kevin Maxwell, Chief Executive Officer, Prince George’s County Public Schools

Press Release on County Executives' Effort to Increase State School Construction Funds