Education

As a former public school teacher and auditor for the school system, Wade is intimately familiar with the relative strengths and weaknesses of our schools.

Our schools in Northern Baltimore County have long been among the most successful in the state.  Although the national education journal Education Week named Maryland public schools #1 in the nation in its annual ‘Quality Counts’ survey last year, taxpayers would be wise to scrutinize the pervasive myth that more money leads to better schools. This notion has significantly contributed to the critical budgetary shortfalls currently confronting lawmakers in Annapolis.

In 2002, Wade voted against the so-called Thornton Plan, which allotted billions of dollars in state education spending with no funding source.  In other words, the legislature committed the state to pay for something without first deciding how to pay for it.

The state has yet to effectively pay for this commitment and continues to increase education aid to the counties.  Last year, Baltimore City Public Schools spent $15,626 per pupil compared to $9,738 in 2002, while schools in Baltimore County allotted $13,070 compared to $8,595 in 2002.  Neighboring Harford and Carroll Counties spent $12,299 and $12,129, respectively, per pupil. State aid to education increased by $2.5 billion from 2002 to 2009.  To be sure, Marylanders are right to demand more for their money, particularly in frugal times for our families.

HELPING FAMILIES BUDGET FOR COLLEGE BY LOCKING IN FOUR-YEAR TUITION RATES

For the last four years, tuition at Maryland public colleges and universities has been frozen, while every other state in the nation has raised college tuition at least once in that period. That freeze is set to end this fall with a 3% increase. The Board of Regents blamed the hikes on the flagging economy.

To be sure, tuition at Maryland’s state universities is a veritable bargain compared with rates at private colleges in the state (see list below). Tuition at the state’s flagship college, University of Maryland College Park, was $8416 last year, while Loyola University Maryland charged $39,350 for tuition alone.

Likewise, tuition at Maryland’s public college and universities is competitive with that of institutions of higher learning around the country. The state dropped from the eighth highest tuition rates in 2005-06 to 21st in this most recent academic year. According to the College Board’s annual report, “Trends in College Pricing,” average tuition is currently higher in Virginia than in Maryland, which is a reversal from rates before the tuition freeze.

As families across the state struggle to keep up with higher prices at the grocery store and gas pump, climbing tuition rates add to the volatility of family budgets. Increasingly, families face unpredictability in utilities, taxes, and tuition.

To relieve families of instability in planning for college, I propose locking in tuition rates for four years on a graduated basis. In effect, when a student enters a four-year state university in Maryland, his or her family would know the tuition for all four years, rather than just the first year of college. Under this model, tuition increases would be announced and available for families up front as their children begin college. This essentially removes some of the uncertainty of budgeting for the great expense of college.

Maryland has made a significant investment in higher education, spending $8100 per student in 2009, ahead of the national average of $7220 that year. Families in this state have themselves invested small fortunes in pursuit of a college education for their children. They deserve predictability and stability in planning for tuition increases.

Maryland Public Colleges & Universities
University of Maryland College Park: $8416
UMBC: $9171
Towson University: $7656
Salisbury University: $6908
St. Mary’s College of Maryland: $13,630

Maryland Private Colleges & Universities
McDaniel College: $33,280
Loyola University Maryland: $39,350
Washington College: $36,738

Out-of-State Colleges & Universities
University of Virginia: $10,628
University of North Carolina: $5625
University of Michigan: $11,659
Penn State: $14,416
University of Texas: $8186
UCLA: $9151