Does HSA pass the test?

Originally published in the Baltimore Sun

By Robert C. Embry Jr.
Published on Tuesday, October 21, 2008
With Maryland students' futures on the line, state school board must press for answers to key questionsShould the Maryland State Board of Education require every public school student, beginning with the current class of 12th-graders, to pass four end-of-course exams - the High School Assessments - to graduate from high school? As they reopen deliberations on this question without the benefit of current data, the new board should be guided by the Hippocratic Oath: "First, do no harm."There is general agreement that high school graduates should be better prepared for employment and higher education; there is also a consensus that taxpayers deserve to know the effectiveness of Maryland's public schools. On the other hand, a young person is significantly better off earning a high school diploma than not, and so is the state; a study this year by the Maryland Public Policy Institute found that each class of dropouts costs Maryland $42 million every year. Read More »

Howard’s school transfer policy leaves families behind, parents say

Originally published in the Baltimore Examiner

By Mike Silvestri, Examiner Staff Writer
Published on Sunday, October 19, 2008
It began as a way to control overcrowding, school officials say, but a Howard County limit on student transfers has spiraled into a debate over students' right to choose. Michelle and Timothy Wood tried in January to transfer their 5-year-old son, Alex, from Bryant Woods Elementary, which is about three miles from their Columbia home, to Clemens Crossing, which is about half that far. Neither school is overcrowded, but the school system denied the transfer because, officials said, there was no justification for an exception to the transfer moratorium in which students must attend the school in their district. Read More »

Study shows Md. at disadvantage in business climate

Originally published in the Carroll County Times

By Bryan Schutt, Times Staff Writer
Published on Thursday, October 16, 2008
The day the state announced $300 million in budget cuts, the Tax Foundation publically announced having rated Maryland as one of the five worst states in business climate.The Tax Foundation, a national nonpartisan nonprofit based in Washington D.C. that's been monitoring tax policy since 1937, rates tax policy by simplicity, transparency, stability, neutrality and growth-promotion, according to its Web site.Maryland's been in the middle of the pack as far as business climate rankings go for the past several years, but plummeted in ranking from 24th in fiscal year 2008, to 45th this fiscal year. Foundation spokesman Matt Moon said the business climate ranking takes a broad look at tax codes state by state for business operators. It not only examines how many tax mandates there are, but also at how they're instituted and how many groups are excluded. Read More »

Vouchers benefit foster children

Originally published in the Washington Times

By Stuart Butler
Published on Thursday, October 02, 2008
More than a half-million children are in foster care. By definition, they've had it tough. Social service agencies hesitate to remove children from their natural homes absent unmistakable signs of truly serious problems, such as neglect or abuse. Child-welfare professionals recognize that, even when they extricate children from deeply troubled home situations and place them in protective, supportive foster homes, the change takes a toll on the children. It tears the little ones away from all that is familiar - neighborhoods, friends and entire social networks - at a critical time in their development. Read More »

State loses millions to more school dropouts

By Mike Silvestri, Examiner Staff Writer
Published on Wednesday, October 01, 2008
High-school dropouts cost Maryland about $193 million each year in lost tax revenue, according to a study released Tuesday. As the nation's dropout rate decreases, Maryland's has been increasing, and last year, about 27,000 high-school seniors in the state failed to graduate. Read More »

Study Finds Maryland Dropouts Take Huge Fiscal Toll On State Revenues, Taxpayers

Published on Tuesday, September 30, 2008
The state of Maryland loses about $193 million in tax revenues each year as a result of the state's growing number of high school dropouts, according to a study released today by the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice and the Maryland Public Policy Institute.The study documents the public costs of high school dropouts in Maryland, examining how the state's decreasing graduation rates are materially affecting the state's finances through reduced tax revenues and increased public expenditures. The study was undertaken by Friedman Fellow Justin P. Hauke, a Chicago securities analyst and former economic research analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank at St. Louis. Read More »

A predictable budget problem

Originally published in the Baltimore Examiner

By Marc Kilmer
Published on Sunday, September 28, 2008
Less than a year after a legislative special session convened to deal with a budget deficit, Maryland once again faces financial problems. While some are expressing surprise at this turn of events, it was entirely predictable. Only willful ignorance of state budget history could lead one to be shocked at the current fiscal mess. I can say this as someone who, in both newspaper opinions and in testimony before the General Assembly, predicted that Maryland would collect lower tax revenue than expected and that spending would be higher than anticipated. I am not a psychic. I simply looked at past state spending and the experience of other states and concluded that the path taken by Gov. Martin O'Malley and the General Assembly would end in fiscal problems for the state. Unfortunately, our legislators and governor did not do the same. Read More »

The high cost of high school dropouts

Our view: Maryland loses millions of dollars a year when kids leave school without graduating

By Baltimore Sun Editorial Board
Published on Sunday, September 21, 2008
Last year, about 27,000 Maryland high school students dropped out of school before graduating. That was nearly a quarter of the state's Class of 2007, and Marylanders pay dearly for it. A study by the Maryland Public Policy Institute estimates that each class of high school dropouts costs the state about $50 million every year in lost tax revenues, higher Medicaid costs and the expenses of incarceration - dropouts are twice as likely as graduates to spend time in jail. Kids who drop out shortchange not only their own chances for success but also those of everyone around them. Read More »

O'Malley, other Md. leaders hail Shattuck's CEG deal

Originally published in the Baltimore Sun

By Laura Smitherman, Sun Reporter
Published on Friday, September 19, 2008
Two years ago, then-Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley and Constellation Energy Group chief executive Mayo A. Shattuck III were trading barbs in public and through advertising campaigns over a proposed 72 percent electricity rate increase.What a difference a market meltdown of global proportions makes.The politician and the executive appear to have come together over financial woes at Constellation, which owns Maryland's largest utility. Their offices kept in close contact as Shattuck negotiated almost nonstop over 48 hours with a potential buyer. And when Shattuck finally settled a deal to sell Constellation to MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., they talked again. Read More »

Editorial: Maryland begs for a federal bailout

Originially published in the Washington Examiner

By Examiner Staff Writer
Published on Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Where will it end? First it was Bear Stearns, then Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Now the State of Maryland wants to get in line for a federal bailout. Maryland - so smart, so compassionate, so willing to increase taxes in order to provide a lavish smorgasbord of "free" government services - has finally hit the wall. The only surprise here is that anybody is surprised. Gov. Martin O'Malley promised all the usual special interests during his gubernatorial campaign that he would fix this and fund that. He called it "investing in our future." Members of the General Assembly were all too happy to join O'Malley's spend-athon. Now, less than a year after strapping a $1.4 billion tax hike on the backs of state residents, Maryland officials are drowning in a flood of red ink. Read More »