Over
the past couple of days, Marylanders from across our state have been
calling me to express their shock and outrage over the actions that have
been taken by the General Assembly in passing next year's capital
budget.
For those who may have missed all of this,
two
amendments were added to the capital budget that will have a significant
effect on the quality of public education, and public school
governance, in the State of Maryland.
The first would
remove
the Board of Public Works from the state's public school construction
appeals process altogether, and leave state funding and oversight
completely in the hands of an obscure, unelected body that meets in
virtual privacy. And in so doing, take away from concerned teachers,
families and taxpayers the opportunity to express their concerns before
the Governor, Comptroller and Treasurer in a transparent, public forum.
The second amendment would
prohibit the use of state school
construction dollars for portable air conditioning units in Baltimore
County and Baltimore City - where tens of thousands of children suffer
in temperatures that approach triple digits on warm school days. Many
of you may recall that Governor Hogan and I worked together earlier this
year to approve regulations that would allow the State to make timely
investments in short-term temperature relief, just as local school
systems around the state have done, with great success, for years.
All of this in a budget bill that was never intended to serve as a
platform for legislative policymaking.
None of this done with public
hearings, advance notice, input or consent from Marylanders who foot
the bill for the General Assembly.
To everyone who feels this is
an inexplicable betrayal of the public trust, rest assured that I
understand your frustration. And I've been in Annapolis long enough to
know what is occurring. It is simply another cynical effort to limit
the authority of the Board of Public Works, simply because Governor
Hogan had the audacity to win the 2014 gubernatorial election and
because I've had the audacity to set partisanship aside to work with the
Governor on behalf of fiscal responsibility.
While these
amendments were intended as shots at Governor Hogan and me,
the children
of our state - along with their families and teachers - are the ones
who are really hurt by these Annapolis power plays. These actions
represent the worst of public policy, because they put the health and
safety of innocent people at risk, and because they have been done with
an utter lack of transparency.
Fortunately for all of us, their
efforts will ultimately prove ineffective. I will continue, with vigor,
to use the Board of Public Works as a platform for asking hard
questions and demanding accountability from education bureaucrats who
receive hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars. While I cannot speak
for Governor Hogan, I suspect he feels the same way.
I know that
so many of you have waited so long, and worked so hard, to protect your
children from the health and safety effects of sweltering classrooms.
Please accept my heartfelt gratitude for standing up and being a part of
this good fight. And please take my word that our fight will not only
continue, but will escalate - both this year and beyond - until every
classroom in Baltimore County and Baltimore City has the
same
temperature controls that are taken for granted in those backrooms in
Annapolis. As I said last fall, we will get this done. We will protect
the health and safety of our children, whether we do it the easy way or
the hard way.
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