Montgomery County, Maryland, one of the wealthiest and highest-performing large school districts in the country, is likely to reduce its level of per-pupil spending, in violation of a state maintenance of effort requirement. This means giving up an estimated $29 million in state aid in 2013:
The county's elected leaders have rescinded a request made last month seeking to be excused from a state formula for funding education.The decision would allow the county to reduce the amount of money it gives to Montgomery County Public Schools in the next fiscal year ? and potentially every year thereafter.
In a letter Thursday to the Maryland State Board of Education, County Council President Valerie Ervin (D-Dist. 5) of Silver Spring and County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) said they do not plan to seek a waiver from Maryland's maintenance-of-effort law.
The county spends roughly $15,000 per pupil, according to the Maryland Report Card, and found itself unable to cover the increased cost from enrollment gains in recent years.
The most interesting part of the story to me is the battle between the County Council, which sees an unsustainable budget, and the school board, which has been demanding that more county resources to be diverted to the already-flush schools. The Council seems to have tied the hands of the district with this move, committing Montgomery County to lower spending for the foreseeable future.
