Parents can expect to see advances in pre-K, tutoring and special education first, among all of the recommendations of a statewide education reform panel, according to its namesake chairman, William “Brit” Kirwan.

“What parents will see is just a steady drumbeat of improvement in the experiences that their children are having in the schools,” Kirwan told Capital News Service.

The Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education, or Kirwan Commission, finalized in December its recommendations and costs to fix large achievement gaps, boost school funding for poorer students, and improve teacher retention for Maryland public schools from 2020 to 2030.

Determining the geographic distribution of the funds is the next step for the commission, which presented an overview of its $3.8 billion plan to a joint legislative committee on Thursday.

“We will see a school system in Maryland that will be the envy of the country and perform at the level of the best performing systems around the world,” if all the recommendations are funded, Kirwan said.

Kirwan said the commission wants $325 million to jumpstart the program this year; Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, R, has allocated $235.8 million in his fiscal year 2020 budget proposal.

Kirwan said the commission is focusing on five major policy areas to be incorporated into the Maryland school system over the next 10 years: Investing in early childhood education; elevating teaching into a high-status profession; creating college and career-ready pathways; ensuring all students have equal access to education; and implementing an oversight board for accountability.

“We have to think of this as a carefully quilted package of initiatives that fit together as a whole,” Kirwan said.

Steven Hershkowitz, policy director of the Maryland State Education Association, said under current funding formulas, free public pre-K is only available to 4-year-olds at income levels 185 percent of the poverty line or below.

Hershkowitz said with the Kirwan plan, free access for public programs would also include 3-year-olds, and expand to income levels at 300 percent of the poverty line or below.

An expanded pre-K program and revamping how college preparedness tests works by creating a 10th grade test that determines career readiness would create new pathways to success for students, Hershkowitz said.

Hershkowitz said the teachers union is more supportive than frustrated by the Kirwan recommendations, but said he is concerned about requiring National Board Certification for teachers.

He said there is no state that has come close to making all teachers reach the “gold-standard,” of certification.

“It’s not a route that every teacher wants to take,” Hershkowitz said. “We would like there to still be more options for teachers.”

Kirwan told lawmakers that Massachusetts, which launched education reform in 1993, was an example for the committee’s recommendations.

The changes increased state aid to schools, set higher goals for academic achievement, and required more accountability in the education system, three points the Maryland plan includes.

However, Sen. Arthur Ellis, D-Charles, said in Massachusetts, minority communities did not excel following the changes; a study released in September found black and Latino students trailed behind white students in reading, grade and income level.

“We have a lot of low income, minority, rural communities left out of the progress,” said Ellis.

Ellis said Kirwan’s recommendations of wrap-around services at community schools that provide mental health, nutrition and physical support in the school building would be a “tremendous solution.”

“A kid shows up and they’re hungry, they’re not going to learn,” said Ellis.

Hershkowitz said Kirwan’s planned investments into a community-school model would be prioritized for areas with high concentrations of poverty.

Sen. Jack Bailey, R-Calvert and St. Mary’s, said a 2016 study showed recommendations for St. Mary’s County would cause a 5 percent increase in funding, but still put them on the same level playing field as other counties.

“Obviously we want a world-class education, but we want a funding formula that works for us, especially in rural counties,” said Bailey. “We want equality.”

Kirwan said Massachusetts’ shortcomings among minorities made the commission “place laser-like focus on equity.”

“We’ve learned from what Massachusetts didn’t do,” said Kirwan. “We can’t leave any kid behind, this has to be for all of our children.”

He said equality was one of the most important recommendations, and told lawmakers that in the plan, more resources would be portioned to schools with high concentrations of impoverished students.

Finding a revenue stream is the third stage of the Kirwan plan, and would be up to the Legislature, Hershkowitz said.

“Education, education, education,” would be the Legislature’s top priority for the 2019 session, Senate President Mike Miller, D-Prince George, Charles and Calvert said earlier this month.

Legislators have tossed around multiple ideas on how to raise the revenue required for the commission, from legalization of marijuana to sports betting.

Miller and House Speaker Michael Busch, D-Anne Arundel, have both entertained the idea of legalizing and taxing recreational marijuana.

“I think that’s (recreational marijuana is) the future,” Busch said earlier this month. “It will be much like overturning prohibition.”

But Delegate Maggie McIntosh, D-Baltimore, said last week she is concerned about budgetary consequences with the state losing an estimated $1.3 million to $1.5 million a day due to the government shutdown.

“I think we have to be careful, and we will be,” said McIntosh.

Kirwan said he recognizes the General Assembly has to deal with the realities of spending affordability and said he hopes they will do all they can to fund the recommendations.

Kirwan said Maryland’s economic future is dependent on a well educated workforce, and that high quality education is the only path out of poverty.

“We can’t afford not to do this,” said Kirwan.

By David Jahng

The Kirwan Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education has begun hanging price tags on its recommendations for major education reform.

Dr. William English Kirwan

The commission chair, former University System Chancellor Brit Kirwan, has emphasized that the state would not just funnel more money into the status quo of Maryland public schools, but would require major changes in how education is delivered and teachers work to justify new spending phased in over 10 years.

Mandated school funding is already the second largest outlay in the state budget.

One of the commission’s major findings is that teachers are paid 25% less than comparable professionals with comparable education and responsibilities, one of the causes for a shortage of qualified teachers and students training to be teachers.

10% pay hike

The commission will be proposing a major bump in teach pay, raising pay for all Maryland public school teachers by 10% between 2020 and 2022, with a minimum teacher salary of $60,000 phased-in by 2024.

The commission is also proposing a new career ladder for teachers and additional certifications for teachers under the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. This will raise average teacher pay in Maryland from the current $69,557 to $93,137 by 2029. In the final year of phase-in, the additional state spending is $1.3 billion, according to preliminary costs estimates by the Department of Legislative Services.

Accompanying these pay raises, the commission is also recommending a reduction in actual classroom teaching time from 80% of the current school day to 60%. This will give teachers more time “to tutor students who need intensive help and work together in teams to use data and observation to identify students who are falling behind and collaborate on getting them back on track, develop highly engaging and effective lesson plans, mentor new and struggling teachers and systematically improve the school’s instructional program using applied research.”

Based on the experience of high-performing schools around the world, the reduction of teaching time will be accompanied by an increase in class sizes justified by more effective curriculum.

“These reductions in instructional time will require an additional 14,685 teachers by 2029 to continue providing the same number of classes,” says the report. Price tag in final year 2029 is another $1.3 billion.

Staggering figures

Conscious that the numbers are staggering, at its Nov. 14 hearing Kirwan emphasized that these are only preliminary numbers.

“These numbers will not reflect any savings that will be made based on the savings of other work groups,” Kirwan said. “No one should leave this room writing or reporting these figures as being the number for any work group. It is a gross number. It has not been netted out.”

“It would be inaccurate to simply add together each element and characterize this as a total cost,” Kirwan went on. “Cost overlaps have not been fully adjusted. Cost savings have not been incorporated.

The commission has not yet tried to work out formulas for how the state and local governments will share in the new costs.

As the costs estimates are rolled out, commission members also noted that there may be additional costs for new buildings associated with increasing the number of teachers or class sizes.

Commission member Crag Rice, a member of the Montgomery County Council, also noted that if you raise the salaries for some, other employees of county government will want similar raises.

By Len Lazarick