teacher Brian Secker, Principal Reginald McNeill and Lupi QuinterosGrady, the local representative to the Prince George’s County Board of Education.
Washington spoke directly with students about how he thought government should act to improve education for Maryland students. Washington told students about the Kirwan Commission, also called the Commission on Innovation and Educational Excellence. This group (led by William E. “Britt” Kirwan, chancellor emeritus of the University System of Maryland) was assembled to ensure equitable distribution of funds for education around Maryland, Goals and Ramblings Joe Francaviglia, director of partnerships at StrongSchoolsMaryland.org, helped present the five key Kirwan Commission goals: universal early childhood education, including pre-K; adequate compensation to retain high quality and diverse teachers and leaders; college and career readiness pathways for students (such as free tuition at community college, like the pilot program at Prince George’s Community College); and more resources for at-risk students; and governance and accountability.
Students moved from one place to another in the room to rank these goals and give their opinions about the quality of education Maryland students receive. They rated Maryland schools a grade of C, taking into account that many schools are without access to sufficient funding, adequate supplies or good teachers. Francaviglia pointed to statistics showing that Maryland is the only state where average National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores in math and reading at grades 4 and 8 decreased between 2013 and 2015. Francaviglia stated that, after adjusting for differences in student background, Maryland falls from 23rd to 37th among states.
“Our wealthy students are masking the performance of those who are poor,” Francaviglia said. In 2002, 22 percent of Maryland students were in poverty, but 44 percent are impoverished today, he added. The Kirwan Commission was established in 2016 to follow up on a previous commission formed in 2002, the Thornton Commission, which instituted funding formulas to ensure that education spending was equitable around the state. According to marylandeducators.org, “the Bridge to Excellence in Public Schools Act of 2002, commonly referred to as Thornton, established a state school aid formula to ensure that schools and school systems have the resources necessary to provide every child with an adequate and equitable education.
Since FY 2008, Thornton has been adjusted primarily by changes in enrollment and capped inflation. Local school systems are given broad flexibility to decide how to best utilize state aid to meet the needs of their students.” Washington referred to the policies that will come out of the Kirwan Commission as “the most important policies that will be implemented for the next 15 years.”
Getting Involved
Francaviglia told student leaders how to get involved in the work his organization is doing to advocate for education at the grassroots level. Strong Schools Maryland recruits 10-person teams around the state who meet monthly to learn about issues affecting Maryland education and who take action using materials provided by the organization. Teams can be made up of students, neighbors, friends, members of civic or religious groups or anyone concerned about the quality of education in Maryland.
Students spoke up about the need to update books and curricula and to train teachers to a current standard. They mentioned how students in Baltimore City or even at DuVal High School don’t have access to the same resources. One student spoke eloquently about socioeconomic gaps that can mean that areas with a high concentration of people of color face greater problems.
Quinteros-Grady told students that the development of policy takes time, and implementation can take even longer. As an example, her goal to provide students with 30 minutes of recess took three years to pass, yet implementation is still ongoing. She went on to describe the need for community schools coordinators, who help meet not just the academic needs but also the social and emotional needs of students.
Good Schools: Key
Because Maryland has a citizen legislature, delegates usually maintain full-time jobs outside the State House. To inform students about this, Washington spoke briefly about his background. Born in D.C., he was the oldest of six raised by a single mom, in and out of homelessness. He graduated from Laurel High School, studied criminal justice at the University of Maryland, worked for a county council member and was appointed in 2012 at age 26 as the youngest member of the state legislature. Washington works at CASA de Maryland as housing and community development manager. Quinteros-Grady also spoke about how she immigrated from El Salvador at age eight, earned a bachelor’s degree from Goucher College and a master’s in bilingual and special education from George Washington University. She is president and CEO of Latin American Youth Center. “A good school system means everything else works right,” Francaviglia told students. He went on to say, “Great ideas in your head mean nothing because they have to come out and become policy; without the force of law nothing happens. This matters, don’t forget about it.”