For anyone thinking the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future is no longer needed, Sen. Ron Watson (D-Prince George’s) points to the disparity in the coach-to-teacher ratio between school systems as proof that it is.
Where Baltimore City has 43 teachers for every one instructional coach in the school system, for example, Baltimore County’s rate is 68 to 1, while Prince George’s County ratio of teachers to coaches is a staggering 276 to one.
“That should tell you something,” Watson said during Senate debate Monday. “There is a significant disparity about the equitable distribution” of coaches in the state.
His comments came as the full Senate debated the Blueprint, the state’s 10-year, multibillion-dollar education reform effort now in is third year. The Senate gave preliminary approval to its version of the plan Monday, after rejecting a series of Republican amendments to the bill during about 30 minutes of debate.
The Senate also advanced the House version of the bill, which it amended to make identical to its own — changes the House is likely to reject, setting the stage for a conference committee later this week to work out differences before the session ends Monday.
The House approved its version of the Blueprint reform bill earlier this month, rejecting cuts in per pupil funding and a four-year pause on teacher collaborative time, both elements of the bill proposed by Gov. Wes Moore (D).
Senate Bill 429, and the conformed House version, agrees with the governor on the collaborative time and per pupil funding provisions.
Like the House, which rejected Republican amendments to the bill in a vote earlier this month, the Senate on Monday also rejected amendments from three GOP lawmakers.
The House amendments were all rejected on a roll call, but in the Senate on Monday, the first two Republicans’ amendments were rejected with a loud “No!” by some Democrats that cascaded throughout the chamber.
Sen. Jack Bailey (R-Calvert and St. Mary’s) offered slightly more than three pages of amendments that included a freeze for all increases of per pupil funding, and for the Accountability and Implementation Board (AIB) to develop metrics to measure student outcomes directly related to programs in the Blueprint. The AIB is charged with overseeing the multiyear school reform plan.
Sen. Mary Beth Carozza (R-Lower Shore) introduced two amendments, which were similar to those she presented unsuccessfully last week before her Education, Energy, and the Environment Committee.
Her amendments would have required the state Department of Education, in collaboration with the AIB, to convene “a certain” work group to study the long-term sustainability of the Blueprint. She also proposed the department and AIB convene a work group to not only study the Blueprint “based on its mandates and costs,” but also analyze overall public school funding on items such as health services, school security and transportation.
Sen. Jason Gallion (R-Harford and Cecil) sought to eliminate a new Academic Excellence Program, which was first presented by Gov. Wes Moore (D) in the bill known as the “Excellence in Maryland Public Schools Act.”
The estimated $17 million program for next fiscal year includes the hiring of instructional coaches, who would work with teachers and administrations at schools with low-proficiency rates and declining achievement results in recent years.
Education officials told the Education, Energy and Environment Committee last week that up to 200 coaches would be needed in the next five years. The state currently has about 800, but 63% of them are in only five of the state’s 24 school systems.
“I think that’s not fiscally responsible,” said Gallion, who serves on that committee. “It was brought out that these coaches would make, like, $120,000 each. By my quick math, that would be two teachers for every coach that we could pay for by this funding.”
But Watson, who served as the floor leader on the bill, summarized the coach-to-teacher ratio in five counties:
- 54 teachers to one coach in Anne Arundel;
- 43-to-1 in Baltimore City;
- 68-to-1 in Baltimore County;
- 79-to-1 in Montgomery; and
- 276-to-1 in Prince George’s County.
“The AIB is going to continue to make these decisions to ensure the fair and equitable distribution of these things that are going to close the achievement gap and help all of our students achieve,” he said.
The House and Senate will need to agree and pass identical bills by Monday, the last day of the legislative session.
