March 10th, 2020 by WCBC Radio

The Maryland House of Delegates late Friday overwhelmingly approved the Kirwan Commission Education recommendations.  Perhaps lost in the shuffle of the Coronavirus updates- the ambitious, expensive legislation that supporters say would raise the state’s public schools to world-class levels passed with a party-line vote of 96 t0 41.  The amended bill would require Maryland’s government to pay more than $2.9 billion more annually to local school systems by 2030. Local jurisdictions would have to pay a combined $863 million more by 2030. Each of Maryland’s 24 jurisdictions would receive increased funding under the plan. But 10 of them ― including Allegany and Washington ― would not be required to pay more in part because some of those jurisdictions already robustly fund education or have very high rates of poverty. Among those praising the bill was Cheryl Bost, president of the Maryland State Education Association. Although the funding package to pay for the Kirwan plan isn’t yet in place- Bost is confident lawmakers can ultimately develop a workable funding solution…