“It’s a slap in the face” – MSEA says proposed education funding cuts could be detrimental

MARYLAND – Monday Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced $210 million in federal relief funding for remote learning and targeted tutoring. The announcement comes after the governor vetoed several bills back in May. The vetoes resulted in millions of dollars in proposed cuts to state funding for education. “Any cuts to public schools are detrimental to our students, especially our students living in poverty,” said president of the Maryland State Education Association Cheryl Bost.

Bost says the proposed budget cuts are a big blow to educators and students in the state. “If you put in requirements of masks, and you’re doing more disinfecting, and if we’re social distancing – that means more personnel is needed to split those class sizes in half,” said Bost.

Bost says that while the remote learning funding is helpful, she wants people to remember that it came from federal money allocated months ago. She claims it does not help to offset the blow that schools would take from proposed budget cuts that will be considered this Wednesday. “It’s really just paying the bills of what was spent and that was the federal government that allocated that money in the CARES Act. This is not state money. He’s taking credit for what our congressional folks have done that was signed into law March 27th,” said Bost.

After announcing the federal aid, Governor Hogan said, “While many states have already seen significant cuts and layoffs, in Maryland, we are going to do everything we possibly can to level-fund K-12 education.”

47ABC did reach out to Maryland Superintendent of Schools Karen Salmon for comment. Superintendent Salmon’s office responded by sending a press release about the $210 million in federal aid.