From Harford County Government:
(Bel Air, MD) – – Harford County Executive David R. Craig will host a public hearing on the FY 15 budget on Monday, November 25, 2013. The budget hearing will be held at Fallston High School located at 2301 Carrs Mill Road, Fallston, Maryland 21047. It will begin at 6:00 p.m. in the school auditorium.
“It is important to hear from the taxpayers when developing a budget,” said County Executive Craig. “This is a chance for citizens to express what they would like to see funded, and we always value the input provided.”
Members of the County Executive’s Cabinet and budget officials will also attend the hearing. The FY 15 budget will be prepared between January and late March of 2014. The proposed budget will be presented to the Harford County Council on April 15, 2014.
Citizens who want to speak during the budget hearing should arrive at least 30 minutes prior to the start of the session to sign in. Speakers will be given three minutes to comment unless they are representing a group in order to allow everyone an opportunity to address the Administration. Those speaking on behalf of an organization will be given five minutes to speak.
insert negative teacher comments below
Rightfully so! Loads of new mandates, increased public scrutiny, multiple college degrees, increases in pension contributions/healthcare, and 1 contractual step i. 5 years! Meanwhile every single county around us has given steps and cost of living increases. How is it possible that a wealthier county cannot manage this when places like Cecil county can?
How about we insert comments about who to vote for in the primary. I’m considering my options, perhaps, Charles Lollar. June 24, 2014 the day Craig falls.
Republican Larry Hogan has announced he will is running for Governor. Former Gov. Bob Ehrlich has said Hogan is “the only Republican in the state with a chance to win.”
Ehrlich also supported Rommney during the Republican Primary process. He said Mitt Rommney was the only Republican that could win the white house. Ehrlich, McCain, Grahm, and the rest of the established thieves can go piss up a rope.
And Ron Paul and Hermain Cain had a chance in hell? Romney had a shot but tanked his campaign. He lost independents and moderates!
and conservatives
So you are saying more conservatives voted for another candidate in the general election? Who?
They stayed home and many didn’t vote.
Romney and McCain were laughable as candidates. Tax and spend Rinos and no better than Obozo.
Ehrlich a thief ? What do you call our current Governor ? And where did all that transportation fund money go ?
He’s a politician. It’s one of the job prerequisites…
I really don’t think Craig has a snowball’s chance to win. Instead spending his second term doing what’s right for the county, he tried to make himself look more like something the far right would approve. He’s going to spend his last year wasting money on a lost campaign and being distracted with something that will never happen. David, you still have one last chance to do what you know would set us on a the right path. Stop trying to squeeze loyal county employees families. You’ll still live here next year. Your neighbors will be suffering from the posturing you’ve been heaving upon the county. It’s not too late to have a legacy that doesn’t totally suck.
Craig won’t even win Harford County in the primary!
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2013-06-11/explore/ph-ag-letter-pierzchalski-0607-20130611_1_teacher-pay-maryland-david-craig
Question for lawyers – Does Craig have to supply one lump sum to the BOA, or can he legal provide funds in two parts? One part for salary (including missing steps) and benefits. Another part for all other operational expenses.
One sum for capital and one for operations!
Yes. Craig argues that he provides enough funds, but the board misuses them. He offered to assist the board with budget management (which they declined) and states he has no control and/or power over the way the funds are spent. So I’m questioning the reality of his statement, and conversely, the reality of the BOE statement that he doesn’t supply adequate funds. Can the county executive legally disburse funding to the BOE and dictate the way the funds are spent? In other words, can he “earmark” a percentage of the overall budget for raises and missed steps with a legal expectation that the BOE uses them for this designated purpose? It seems both parties blame each other.
He cannot earmark the BoE funds. All that needs to be known about school funding in Harford County is we are 19th out of 24 MD Counties. How mush waste can there be at 19th?
The fact is that Harford County has a history of underfunding its schools.
HCPS Funding Rank in MD by Year
2002-2005 24th out of 24
2006 23rd out of 24
2007 16th out of 24
2008 17th out of 24
2009 18th out of 24
2010 18th out of 24
2011 18th out of 24
2012 17th out of 24
2013 19th out of 24
While other districts are able to expand their programing and recruit the best teacher candidates, HCPS is forced to make cuts to programing and positions. This lack of funding is creating an impending disaster in HCPS.
The data which you provided is useless, (much like the union.) How are the data developed? What are the criteria used? How many schools, how many students, how many BOE staff? What are the actual dollars per stident? Provide those data and then one can begin to develop the data needed for decision making. The fact that CE offered to asssit the board and was refused is a major data point. When you guys in the education industry get serious give us a holler, in the menat time go suck eggs.
Ryan, what do these numbers represent? Total county funding? County funding per pupil? County + State funding per pupil? County funding as a % of total county appropriations? County funding as a % of total school system revenues? Something else? Whichever it is, I’m sure it’s the one which makes the county seem the worst. But at the very least tell us which one it is.
Since that data applies to total per pupil expenditures it really does not matter how many schools, how many students, how many BOE staff? The rankings are developed by MSDE and the legislative report on local governments. Historically, the state of Maryland has contributed more to the education of Harford County’s children than Harford County Government. In FY 2013, the state of Maryland contributed 49.2% compared to Harford County’s total contribution of 46.4%. I believe for FY14 Harford County contributed slightly more than the state but not much the problem is that as Harford County’s wealth has grown, the contribution to education has not grown proportionally. Between 2006 and 2013, Harford County’s wealth per pupil increased by 61%. As our measured wealth has grown, Harford County has been expected to accept more responsibility for the cost of educating our children. Unfortunately, local school funding by percent of budget, has declined during this same time frame. These are not slanted stats. http://dls.state.md.us/data/polanasubare/polanasubare_intmatnpubadm/polanasubare_intmatnpubadm_annrep/Overview-of-Local-Maryland-Governments-WEB-COPY.pdf
1. Baltimore City $16,879
2. Worcester 16,605
3. Kent 15,643
4. Montgomery 15,467
5. Howard 15,298
6. Prince George’s 15,056
7. Allegany 14,618
8. Somerset 14,397
9. Garrett 14,154
10. Baltimore 13,677
11. Charles 13,508
12. Calvert 13,507
13. Dorchester 13,452
14. Anne Arundel 13,285
15. Carroll 13,241
16. Frederick 13,130
17. Wicomico 13,077
18. Washington
19. Harford 12,924
20. Caroline 12,726
21. Cecil 12,666
22. Talbot 12,502
23. St. Mary’s 12,324
24. Queen Anne’s 11,996
Ryan; Data are plural. It should be “those data apply.” I agree with Arturro and TR. Figures are totally irrelevant without explanation as to how they were derived. The stats above, showing Harford as 19th with 12,241 is also most interesting. Is that the cost per pupil to operate our schools? If it is one can deduce that the cost to operate a 25 student classroom is $30,025.00! I also must ask if that is the cost per year. If the average salary for the teacher is $50,000, and the benefits and other salary related costs are 43% (modest figure) it costs $71,500 for the teacher. That leaves $22,875 being spent to provide the overhead. There is where you find the money to support raises, steps, etc, etc. You can not take it out of the pockets of the non-government people who are actually producing. We have seen NO pay raises, no cost of living adjustments, nothing. Raising taxes is not the real answer but it certainly is a simplistic answer for someone who has proven to be overly simplistic.
There is no guarantee that an increase in funding will result in an increase in teacher salary. As it stands, the BOE can spend the money on whatever they desire. I am not taking sides, only trying to find a solution that benefits both parties, since they cannot agree on anything. Where is the compromise and how can it be accomplished?
Actually, HCEA has negotiated contingencies for several years with HCPS that would guarantee the funds went to employee wages but the rather modest increases necessary have deliberately gone unmet, as Candidate Craig tries in vain to appeal to the far right constituency he covets in his run for governor.
Or maybe the county’s broke due to the real estate bubble and other tax revenue shortages. HCPS has a budget of ~$400mil/yr, Harford County as a whole has a budget of ~$800mil/yr, when times get tough, a reasonable person would expect HCPS to absorb a significant portion of any cuts.
Or maybe Harford County is taking in more revenue than ever before. It is just not going to schools.
http://www.harfordcountymd.gov/Budget/
Burbey –
$12,924 per student is an obscene amount of money. You should feel guilty that you are part of the wastefulness of HCPS.
We are not going to give you more money.
Perhaps you just don’t understand the cost associated with educating children. I think the rankings speak for themselves. 19th out of 24.
http://dls.state.md.us/data/polanasubare/polanasubare_intmatnpubadm/polanasubare_intmatnpubadm_annrep/Overview-of-Local-Maryland-Governments-WEB-COPY.pdf
1. Baltimore City $16,879
2. Worcester 16,605
3. Kent 15,643
4. Montgomery 15,467
5. Howard 15,298
6. Prince George’s 15,056
7. Allegany 14,618
8. Somerset 14,397
9. Garrett 14,154
10. Baltimore 13,677
11. Charles 13,508
12. Calvert 13,507
13. Dorchester 13,452
14. Anne Arundel 13,285
15. Carroll 13,241
16. Frederick 13,130
17. Wicomico 13,077
18. Washington
19. Harford 12,924
20. Caroline 12,726
21. Cecil 12,666
22. Talbot 12,502
23. St. Mary’s 12,324
24. Queen Anne’s 11,996
I understand that Utah spends half of what Harford County spends and they get better SAT scores.
Ahhh…The latest ridiculous, “Let’s not fund our schools talking point.” Completely inaccurate but who cares. No one looks this up. Look it up. Let’s not even examine that a lost as many kids took the SAT in Harford County as the entire state of Utah…That would not skew results would it???
http://research.collegeboard.org/programs/sat/data/cb-seniors-2013
http://www.daggerpress.com/2013/11/18/average-2013-sat-scores-exceed-college-readiness-benchmarks-in-most-harford-county-high-schools-fall-short-for-automatic-entry-to-credit-courses-at-harford-community-college/
Let’s just ignore that the cost of education is much less in Utah and that Utah ranks near the bottom of the nation in every income or revenue category.
http://www.nea.org/assets/img/content/NEA_Rankings_And_Estimates-2013_(2).pdf
A very small percentage (less than 5%) of Utah students (as well as students in most western states) take the SAT and nearly all of those that do are in the top 5% of their graduating class. Most Utah students take the ACT which is required for acceptance to western US universities. Using only SAT scores as a metric of student performance makes for poor comparisons between different states. Also, regional costs per pupil cannot be directly compared. They must be adjusted for regional costs of living. Socioeconomic diversity of student populations in each state are another variable that must considered. This is the problem with evaluating the success of schools. There are too many variables that are not controlled to make reasonable comparisons.
Oh really!
Utah has excellent schools at half the price of Harford County.
Go ahead and spin it!
If your statement is true, how about you figure out how Utah is able to make that happen and post the explanation for us? Then maybe you can get elected to the HCPS BOE and bring Utah here. Otherwise, just capping the current HCPS budget (or in your case you would probably like to see it reduced) is not a plan to improve or school system. Doing only that will do two things. One, reduce the effectiveness of our current school system. And two, keep more money in your wallet, which in the end, is what seems to be all you care about.
Poor Comparison
So you can’t explain Utah’s success at half the cost per pupil.
Okay I accept it.
Utah did not comply with NCLB and does not receive FARMS money!
Move to Utah.
@ MP
You are the one proposing that Utah has more successful schools at a lower cost than Maryland. The burden of proof for this conclusion falls on you. Any evidence you provide should be able to withstand the scutiny of others. The evidence should also suggest an explanation as to the differences between Utah and Maryland. So far, you have failed to provide the evidence or the explanation. Your short, opinionated posts add little to any real discussion on this topic…which should be expected considering the forum.
Now you could turn this around and demand Maryland school administrators justify the costs of Maryland schools. But remember, no one on this thread suggested that Maryland schools are more successful than schools in Utah or that the costs of Maryland schools are justified. However, if I were to make that case, I would likely point to the fact that Maryland schools continue to be ranked #1 in the country and Utah ranks #36. Please feel free to be critical of those rankings by reviewing them at http://www.edweek.org/ew/qc/2013/state_report_cards.html, but those rankings have been consistent for the last 5 years. According to the rankings, Utah’s lack of success is due to the following: low student achievement levels, poor teacher quality/accountability/incentives, and total school spending. Maryland’s success is due to the following: high standards and accountability, high student achievment, high teacher quality/accountability/incentives, total school spending, and career and college readiness. The only metric that Utah exceeds Maryland is in their level of standards with Utah at a 100% score and Maryland at a 96.4%.
To bring the conversation back to increasing funding for HCPS, Harford County ranks 19th out of 24 counties in per pupil funding yet Harford County ranks 10th or better on student performance on SAT, HSA and MSA. How much longer will it be before HCPS student achievement levels fall because HCPS funding levels continue to fall, as is the case in Utah? You may want HCPS funding to fall to 24th out of 24 counties, but do you want HCPS student achievement levels to fall to 24th out of 24 counties?
Because –
I lived in Utah twice and loved it.
Poor Comparison
I see your point that you think Maryland getting a B grade on spending is better than Utah getting an F. Not surprising that Maryland taxpayers pay twice as much as Utah taxpayers.
You must be disappointed that Maryland and Utah had an equal grade of Economy & workforce: A (100.0).
Ahhh…The latest ridiculous, “Let’s not fund our schools talking point.” Completely inaccurate but who cares. No one looks this up. Look it up. Let’s not even examine that a lost as many kids took the SAT in Harford County as the entire state of Utah…That would not skew results would it???
http://research.collegeboard.org/programs/sat/data/cb-seniors-2013
http://www.daggerpress.com/2013/11/18/average-2013-sat-scores-exceed-college-readiness-benchmarks-in-most-harford-county-high-schools-fall-short-for-automatic-entry-to-credit-courses-at-harford-community-college/
Let’s just ignore that the cost of education is much less in Utah and that Utah ranks near the bottom of the nation in every income or revenue category.
http://www.nea.org/assets/img/content/NEA_Rankings_And_Estimates-2013_(2).pdf
Burbey –
Utah ranks as one of the top states in the nation to live in.
Cdev –
And your point is what?
Raise taxes, get teachers more money, then they end up losing what money they got in a raise since it goes to higher taxes. Fartttttt.
You and me both buddy, I fart as well.
I never understood the idea of raising taxes to support just a raise, probably where most teachers live (Harford) that they will have to pay hundreds more per year whatever tax is increased (property), to see their “raise” or coca “cola” get nuked in the new tax. WTF, yo?
The never ending up one ladder rung, up another. Shit hot dogs! Wait, what?
I make less now than I did three years ago. My pay ends up actually decreasing every year, because taxes are getting higher. I’m not sure if this is the case with other workers in Harford County–I just know that I’m making less than I was when I was a first-year teacher.
so are the rest of us pal
Good to know I’m not the only one, I guess? Either way, I’m just happy to have a job I truly enjoy. I love going to work every day, and I know not everyone can say that. I’m also pretty sure everyone would like to make more money…that’s nothing new.
You can’t name 3 people who think they are over paid. We are all in the same boat except many of us in the private sector have no retirement plan.
We are all getting squeezed and if we have to learn to do more with less, so to should the school system.
Careful 3yearteach, the unionites will come and get you if they hear you say, you’re “just happy to have a job you enjoy.”
No, ‘data’ is not the plural form of what we define as information. The plural form of data is “datum” or, as Latin dictates, “datai” or “datas”.
Unless Latin has changed considerably since I had four years in high school some years ago, the singular is “datum”, second declension neuter; its plural is “data”.
However, in current usage we tend to use “data” as a singular noun.
Actually a lot of teachers cannot afford to live in harford county
At least I am replying to the correct post.
Pavel, you are incorrect. You must have studied the common, street Latin used in the market place. I am referring to the Latin spoken by the upper-crust of society. The plural “datai” or datas”, the future tense declension being “datoi”.
Hope this helps.
We read the works of Virgil and Caesar, among others, hardly street Latin.
There is no future tense of a noun, only verbs have tenses. Nouns have declensions, verbs have conjugations.
Google “Latin second declension neuter endings” for a quick refresher course.
What works of Ceasar?
False. In ancient Latin, all words displayed action. Hence, all Latin words are verbs. There are also no consonants in Latin, only vowels, strictly speaking. So, when you speak of conjugations you’re really not making sense. In this regard, Latin is very different from French.
@Cdev: Commentaries on the Gallic Wars
A tremendous collection of sweeping nonsense Brian. Any quick lookup reveals you’re wrong about all Latin words being verbs and Datum being the singular form of data and the absence of consonants from Latin. Where do you get this stuff or do you just make it up to sound more impressive than you are?
Speechless. Baltimore news just report that the County Executive Public Hearing lasted four hours and was primary dominated by an overwhelming appeal for education funding. Yet, he replies “Having 34 years experience in public education, it’s nothing new to see educators come and go.” Did a potential candidate just ignore the concerns of his local constituents, write them off? After 4 hours of comments. I don’t think he will win the election, but if he does. I will be writing a letter to his opponent suggesting they use that footage in their commercial champaign. His campaign slogan should be “I have all the answers, so don’t tell me!”
Like a Republican ever had a chance of being endorsed by a union, much less the teacher’s union.
HCEA is actively looking for Republicans who support education. We will endorse candidates, regardless of political party, who make our schools a priority.
TRANSLATION – We support any candidate and we are willing to fund any candidate who will line our pockets with new contracts in return for campaign contribution dollars from the teachers unions.
Who cares if it costs taxpayers more money.
Who cares if we have to raise property taxes on citizens.
Nothing but a bunch of whores who sell out to the highest bidder.
No, we have an extensive endorsement process. Some candidates who have been supported in the past are not “union guys” but do or did believe in supporting our schools.
Perhaps you have forgotten that teachers and parents of school children are tax-payers too. Don’t they deserve to have some say over how their tax dollars are spent?
Mr Burbey,
Who was the last Republican HCEA endorsed for office at the state level?
HCEA has not endorsed any state-wide candidates recently. This year we stand with our state-wide affiliate in support of Anthony Brown.
I think the larger question is she did a Republican candidate for governor last make even the slightest attempt to support education or teachers. Ehrlich certainly didn’t and Candidate Craig could not even find time to meet with the HCEA delegation at the MSEA convention. He was the only Republican to participate in the endorsement process.
HCEA has begun to meet with candidates who have filed with the board of elections. Each candidate will be given equal consideration should they choose to participate in the endorsement process.
About half of our members are Republicans. Three members of our Board of Directors are Republicans. It is not about Republican or Democrat. It is about whether you support public education, schools, students and teachers.
Everyone supports the schools and having a good education system. Just because someone does not agree that throwing more money at the schools and expecting a better result it the correct way to go forward does not mean they do not support education.
There are plenty of ways to reduce expenses and they have been provided via the website to the BOE. Some may be politically difficult and appeasing certain groups at the expense of all taxpayers should be shunned. We are into our 6th year of economic stress and every government entity should be taking advantage of cost saving measures before going after the public for more funds.
This is the least progressive county in the state. It has become the county of people yelling and no one listening. We are a “soapbox society” with an acquiescent majority. Nothing happens, and nothing will continue to happen. The reality is that no one really cares what happens to teachers because they do not have the foresight to see the true ramifications of what is being done. The lack of funding and proper budgeting is going to have some major effects in the future. It is truly a sad state of affairs.
I just saw three bumper stickers on the rear of a car in the grocery store. One for Obama/Biden, one for Art Helton, and the other – David Craig for governor. I think that says enough.
Harford County Board of Education President Reynolds: “…We Can No Longer Maintain Our Current Level of Services with the Funding Provided” http://www.daggerpress.com/2013/11/26/harford-county-board-of-education-president-reynolds-we-can-no-longer-maintain-our-current-level-of-services-with-the-funding-provided/