Fixing Baltimore's education crisis

Originally published in the Baltimore Examiner

By Christopher B. Summers
Published on Tuesday, May 15, 2007
BALTIMORE - In 1999, the Children's Scholarship Fund announced it would provide private-school scholarships to low-income families across the country. In Baltimore, 46,000 families applied for scholarships - approximately 44 percent of the eligible student population. Since the number of available scholarships was scarce, only 430 lucky students received scholarships that year. Where are those thousands of children? Most likely many dropped out of high school before graduation. According to one recent study in Education Week, the graduation rate in Baltimore City's public schools could be as low as 39 percent - one of the lowest among major cities in the country.

School Choice Options for Maryland

Education Tax Credits and the BOAST Tax Credit Proposal

Edited by Alison Lake
Published on Monday, March 12, 2007
In the 2007 Maryland state legislative session, a bipartisan coalition of legislators has introduced the Building Opportunities for All Students and Teachers, or BOAST tax credit proposal. This initiative is modeled after a similar tax credit program in Pennsylvania that has strong bipartisan support there. The legislation (Senate Bill 265) is sponsored by State Senator James E. DeGrange, Sr., a Democrat from District 32 (Anne Arundel County) and 17 co-sponsors. In the House of Delegates, the bill is sponsored by Delegate James E. Proctor Jr., a Democrat from District 27A (Calvert and Prince George’s counties) and 57 co-sponsors.The BOAST tax credit proposal would provide up to $25 million in partial tax credits to Maryland businesses that make contributions to support education. Specifically, the bill would allow businesses to make up to $15 million in contributions to non-profit organizations that fund tuition scholarships to non-public schools. Businesses would also be allowed to contribute up to $10 million to organizations that fund initiatives to improve public education. Businesses participating in the BOAST tax credit program would be able to receive a partial tax credit (worth 75 percent of the donation) for qualifying contributions.

ANNAPOLIS TO CONSIDER K-12 SCHOLARSHIPS FOR FOSTER CHILDREN

Legislation follows Maryland Public Policy Institute Proposal

Published on Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Delegate Nancy Stocksdale (R-Carroll County) recently filed legislation in the Maryland General Assembly to provide K–12 tuition scholarships to children in foster care.    The legislation follows a policy proposal formulated in 2005 by Maryland Public Policy Institute (MPPI) senior fellow Dan Lips. Lips’ proposal led to MPPI’s receiving the Innovation Grant Award from the Milton & Rose D. Friedman Foundation, the education philosophy organization, in 2006. That same year, Arizona adopted Lips’ proposal.

Building partnerships

Originally published in the Baltimore Sun

By Cindy Mumby
Published on Friday, January 19, 2007
When Harford County's newest school was conceived, it was expected to cost $40 million. But when the Patterson Mill Middle/High School complex finally opens its doors this fall, the final price tag will be closer to $60 million. What happened? School facilities take an inordinate amount of time and money to build, not just in Harford County but throughout Maryland, in part because the system relies on government processes to do what private industry can do in less time and at a fraction of the cost. Owning and operating school buildings distracts school systems from their core mission of educating students. Public/private partnerships get school systems out of the building and real estate business by allowing them to lease space from private firms that build, manage and maintain school sites. Under this approach, school systems and building companies can each focus on what they do best, saving substantial time and money.

Report: Teacher pensions don’t hinder recruitment

But the Maryland State Teachers Association calls the report 'sloppy' and 'untimely'

By Alan Brody, Staff Writer, The Gazette
Published on Friday, December 15, 2006
ANNAPOLIS — Maryland’s teacher pension system, labeled one of the worst in the nation by union activists before the state legislature passed a $120 million enhancement plan this year, has not hampered recruitment and retention efforts, according to a report issued this week by a conservative-leaning think tank. ‘‘Increased state spending on defined benefit pension plans like Maryland’s is unlikely to be a cost-efficient way to staff classrooms with qualified teachers,” wrote Michael Podgursky, an economics professor at the University of Missouri who wrote the study jointly released by the Maryland Public Policy Institute in Germantown and the Abell Foundation in Baltimore.

Is It Time To Rethink Teacher Pensions In Maryland?

By Michael Podgursky, Ph.D.
Published on Tuesday, December 05, 2006
The Abell Foundation and the Maryland Public Policy Institute have released a joint study that challenges the claim that Maryland’s teacher pension system is hampering teacher recruitment and retention. The study, authored by University of Missouri economist Michael Podgursky, Ph.D., a specialist in the teacher labor market, finds that Maryland’s traditional teacher pension system was on par with peer states. His findings will likely be controversial; coming just months after the 2006 General Assembly approved an expensive increase in teacher pensions, and prior to a 2007 General Assembly in which the state’s teachers union is expected to push for an additional increase. More importantly, the study raises the question: If the teacher retirement plan is on par with other states, then why is Maryland really losing young teachers to other states? In “Is It Time To Rethink Teacher Pensions in Maryland?” Prof. Podgursky finds that in terms of simple income replacement rates, the traditional Maryland teacher pension system did appear to be among the worst in the nation. However, this measure does not accurately reveal the value of teachers’ pensions.Podgursky finds: “Given the high professional mobility of public school teachers, education policy makers should consider providing Maryland teachers with a defined contribution alternative to the current system — a plan that would ‘travel with’ mobile teachers.”

Raising teacher pensions hikes costs and does not help student performance

By The Baltimore Examiner
Published on Tuesday, December 05, 2006
BALTIMORE - Baltimore’s trusted Abell Foundation recently released a report debunking the myth that Maryland’s teacher pension plan hurt efforts to recruit and retain good educators. Finally, some closure for this issue? The Maryland State Teacher’s Association had advocated for a pension hike so as to better recruit and retain teachers. It complained that Maryland teachers received the worst retirement benefits in the nation. Yet the study found “There is no evidence that variation in defined benefit plans affects teachers’ turnover. Ironically, teachers have one of the most attractive defined benefit pension systems, yet teacher turnover remains very high, primarily due to high rates of turnover among young teachers.” It also found that when combined with Social Security — something teachers in many other states will not receive — Maryland’s pension system prior to the increases enacted this spring compared favorably to other states. That finding alone eliminates any reason for the state teacher union to complain. We wish this study, done in cooperation with the Maryland Public Policy Institute, had been completed prior to April, when Gov. Robert Ehrlich signed a bill into law that raised retiree benefits for teachers. It would have injected some common sense into what became a very emotional debate. Those who retire after 30 years will now receive 54 percent of their total salary each year, up from 42 percent. It will cost Marylanders $120 million this year and about $1.67 billion over 25 years — a quarter of what the union requested.

Focus Group Study: Foster Care Families, Children, and Education

Published on Thursday, November 30, 2006
The Maryland Public Policy Institute is working to spearhead initiatives that help children entrusted in the foster care system to simultaneously receive a high-quality education. Many of these children experience unstable and often abusive living conditions. Social service placement typically requires frequent relocations for these wards of the courts: home-to-home, community-to-community and school-to-school. At this time, The Maryland Public Policy Institute has enlisted the services of Baltimore Research to conduct research that will aid in gaining a better understanding of the impact of foster care on the education of those in its charge.

Former Foster Children and Parents Stress Need for Better Educational Options

Focus Group Participants Say Current System Needs Improvement

Published on Thursday, November 30, 2006
GERMANTOWN, MD, November 30, 2006- Former foster children and foster parents in Maryland highlighted the lack of a quality education as a common problem faced in the foster care system during an August focus group, the results of which were published today by the Maryland Public Policy Institute.  “The real-life experiences of those in the foster care system emphasize the need to provide better opportunities for children in foster care,” said Christopher Summers, president of MPPI.“Foster children are among the most at-risk groups in our community.Providing these children with a quality education is a key to giving them the opportunity to succeed in life.”

15 Questions Maryland's Teachers Should Ask Their Unions

By Tom Neumark
Published on Monday, November 06, 2006
It is election season again, and across the state local teachers’ unions are campaigning for the candidates featured on their Apple Ballot, which they will distribute to large numbers of voters this November. The Apple Ballot enjoys a somewhat privileged place in the minds of Maryland’s voters because of its claims to represent the views of teachers. But the union’s interests do not always coincide with the public’s interest in improving education, or even the interests of the teachers themselves. Just as the union issues questionnaires to political candidates prior to endorsing them, this paper in turn asks some questions of the unions. This should not be construed as “teacher bashing,” “anti-union,” or “anti-public education,” as unions sometimes label those who offer alternatives to their policies, but rather as a critical examination of whether teacher unionization and the policies unions support have benefited teachers and the general public. It is healthy for any organization—especially one that claims to have the public’s best interests at heart—to be challenged from time to time. The Maryland State Teachers Association and its affiliates have been asking candidates questions for decades. The time has come to ask them some questions as well.