Never ONCE during the entire process think about nuts and bolts of the reform and whether it will actually work or not. When the reform fails, write articles on how it’s not that the reform itself that is flawed, but the “unrealistic goals, insufficient management, and inadequate funding” of the program that are lacking, with strong emphasis on funding being the blame.
And so here Maryland is in year five of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future education leviathan spending bill and local governments and the state are discovering that, surprise, it’s not working and it’s not sustainable. What do the creators of the bill do?
They shift the blame off the people who created the mess and on to those who need to implement and pay for the mess.
In his article in MARYLAND MATTERS, December 16, 2024, Kalman Hettleman, one of the members of the Kirwan Commission who developed the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, bemoans the fact that the Blueprint has become a huge problem for state and local educators and education agencies as they fight to fund the full implementation.
School vouchers, dissolve the board of education.
The ROI on education is a FAILURE!!
That Hettleman was on the Baltimore BOE should disqualify him from ANY other education position until he and fellow board members make Baltimore schools even marginally functional and successful. Failing that, he’s got nothing to offer.
No Child Left Behind: laudable but unrealistic goal. As soon as the low hanging fruit was picked in better results hand wringing and evasive workarounds began. Leading to>>
Common Core: The Dumb and Dumber of education theory and practice. Leading to, in Maryland>>
The Blueprint: Be well rested and have gallons of coffee if you start to read this piece of fiction.
Teaching is not that difficult (close to 40 years experience talking here): knowledgeable teacher, presentation of the material to attentive students who actually spend time mastering the topic before moving to next topic. Rinse, repeat. There are students with special needs who may need more time or resources to grasp content but most can do it. Cellphones have blown a hole below the waterline in student concentration in class and across the day, in and out of school. Discipline issues must be met head on; in some respects that seems to be improving.
The public purse needs to slam shut. Managers need to manage with existing resources rather than a carte blanche approach to any and all improvement fairy tales.
Regular people are just out of money to keep expanding resources we flush in this endeavor. Back to basics!
8:19 – There is a big difference between teaching in Berlin or Slow Hill vs anything in Baltimore. City, PG County, and the rest of the real hood. The truth is our tax and spend Gov.
Just blew all of the money set aside by Hogan and now we have a problem. Now, what has to be cut, or what new tax has to be levied to pay for this? Mark my words, either an existing tax goes up, or a new one steps in and we all foot the bill.
Throw more money at the schools and lower the standards. Make sure no one is accountable and everything looks good except our kids are woefully undereducated.
We all knew this was not going to work. The dems think the more money you spend the better the out come. Not true. When a large percentage of our county is homeless and in poverty spending more and more will do nothing to fix the issue. Education has become a black hole for dollars with no real ROI attached.
Another predicted boondoggle.
Hogan resisted it with his own common-sense…then threw it away by endorsing the Mooron instead of the candidate of his own party!
Baltimore is top 3 in the country in $$ spent per student, and most of their schools have zero kids proficient in math and reading. The money in this blueprint is not going to ever make it to the kids…it’s for unelected and elected bureaucrats to line their pockets, no bid contracts to build new schools, and the unions. School choice vouchers are the way forward. Schools get money/teachers depending on how many students they have. Why should our taxes go to a school system if we don’t choose to send our kids to them? Taxation without representation.
On another note…when the government shuts down, why are we still taxed? What are we paying for during that time period? It’s like paying for any other service…if you don’t receive the service you don’t pay.
What ever happened to the revenue from legalized gambling?
It was supposed to go to the schools and lower our tax burden!
To9:13. Check the politicians pockets and you see where the legalized gambling money went
Wes Moore is horrible, his cronies are horrible. Maryland can’t keep going like this. I am so disgusted with people on the public dole being able to vote. of course, they will vote in more demon crats so they can get their housing, transportation, cell phones, health care etc. paid for by someone else. No one should be able to vote unless they work and pay taxes.