It’s intended to get more funding for Md. public schools.
Annapolis, Md (KM). The “March for Our Schools” is taking place next week in Annapolis. It’s being organized by the Maryland State Teachers Association. “The ‘March for Our Schools’ is a way for educators, students, parents and community activists to speak up and to make our voices heard in the movement for more funding for education in the state of Maryland,” says MSEA President Cheryl Bost.
“We’ve seen demonstrations across this country saying we are under-funding our schools,” she continues. “And here in Maryland, we are under-funding our schools by $2.9-billion annually.”
And, Bose says, this under-funding is having an impact in the classroom in the form of “Increased class sizes, less school counselors, psychologists to deal with more students who are coming to us with trauma. It’s less pre-k that we’ve been able to provide for our students. And really, fewer opportunities for career and technology education,” she says.
On the MSEA website, the association says Maryland is updating how public schools are funded for the first time in 20 years. It says this is “a once in a generation chance” to end the $2.9-billion funding gap in the state’s schools, which is an average of $2-million for each school in Maryland.
The “March for Our Schools” will take place on Monday, March 11th starting at 6:00 PM at the US Naval Academy stadium, and end at the State House. Bost says so far, more than 6,000 people will be taking part. “We have contracted buses coming from as far away as Garrett County and Wicomico County,” she says. “We have county executives on the buses, superintendents, local boards of education, and even some of our elected council folks and commissioners.”
Bost encourages all citizens to come to Annapolis on March 11th and show their support for public education. “As a teachers, and listening to my colleagues across the state, we keep getting asked to do more and more with students to help them improve their academic achievement with less and less resources, and less equitable resources across the state,” she says. “So I would say anybody whose in Frederick County or Queen Anne’s County or Baltimore County, anywhere across the state, our students are our future and we can no longer deprive of the best education. So we need to march for our schools on March 11th.”
By Kevin McManus