Delegate Trent Kittleman - District 9A |
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Week 9
March 21 - March 26, 2022
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Contents
- Gas Tax holiday here - for 30 days
- PARENT RIGHTS
- Maryland Parents' bill of rights
- Killing BOOST by Budget
- Education Savings Accounts
- Fund Students - Not Schools
- Legislative Scholarship Application
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Gas Tax Relief is Here!
Check the price at the pumps in your area
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As of this past Friday, the price of gas in Maryland should show a marked decrease -- about $0.36 less than it was. The Maryland tax on gas ($0.36 per gallon) is being waived for one month. The bill does NOT require gas stations to decrease their prices accordingly, so be sure yours does -- or find one that does!
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Maryland Parental Rights Act |
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This bill, among other provisions, expresses the finding of the General Assembly that:
- "It is a fundamental right of parents to direct the upbringing, education, and care of their minor children;
- No information relating to a minor child should be withheld, either inadvertently or purposefully, from the child’s parent, including information relating to the child’s health, well-being, and education while the child is in the custody of a local school system; and
- It is necessary to establish a consistent mechanism for parents to be notified of information relating to the health and well-being of their minor children."
To this end, the bill:
- Explicitly establishes numerous parental rights in statute;
- Requires various State and local entities to take specified actions related to such rights, particularly in regard to the education of a minor child; and
- Prohibits various State and local entities from taking specified actions related to such rights
- Permits parents to object or withdraw their child from certain courses that conflict with their "morality, religion, philosophy, fundamental value system, or the belief that the materials are harmful."
On Wednesday, March 16, the Judiciary Committee voted on this bill. During the discussion of the bill, comments from the Committee Chair serve as a window into the mind of the woke liberal when a single-minded focus on identity politics deprives even intelligent people of the ability to see beyond their personal, preferred, identity.
Thus, we find the Committee Chair convinced that the majority of the bill's supporters are inherent bigots who discriminate against anyone different from themselves. Even worse, it leads them to believe we are evil.
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THE VOTE SHEET BELOW IS TO SUPPORT AN "UNFAVORABLE" RECOMMENDATION
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Fourteen Democrats voted for an unfavorable report on
the Maryland Parental Rights Act.
All seven of the Republican members of the Committee voted against the recommendation to say this bill is "unfavorable."
So when Republican delegates say they support parents, they show that support by their votes.
Democrats don't. Not even those who might believe in the bill have to vote against it. That's what the Democrats do; they do what leadership tells them.
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The GOOD News
Other than Charter Schools, the only School Choice Program Maryland has been willing to allow is "BOOST," (Broadening Options & Opportunities for Students Today). Enacted by law in 2016 the program offers scholarships to lower-income families. The program worked well until the legislature has fallen into the hands of radical liberals.
BOOST scholarships help over 3,500 lower-income students have the opportunity to escape failing public schools and attend one of the more than 200 BOOST-qualified private schools. In 2020-2021, the BOOST program offered more than $12 million in scholarships.
The table below shows the number of students who were awarded a BOOST scholarship and the average amounts of the scholarships.
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- Every student awarded a BOOST scholarship is eligible for Free & Reduced-price Meals
- Recipients were 57% minority
- 1013 of the awardees were English Language Learners
- Students in Baltimore City schools received 37.3% of the scholarship awards, followed by students in Baltimore County (24.7%), Prince Georges County (12.6%), and Montgomery County (10.1%)
- Scholarship recipients live in 23 of the 24 Maryland jurisdictions
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Notwithstanding the incontrovertible success of BOOST to be able to give over 3,500 lower-income students an otherwise unavailable opportunity to get a good education, in this year alone, the Maryland House of Delegates has cut the budget and tried to kill the program every year!
- Governor Hogan has budgeted $10,000,000 for BOOST every year.
- The House cuts that amount between $4 and $5 million every year
- (But last year, the Senate put the $4 to $5 million back!)
- Every year, the House adds "budget language" that restricts who can apply for a BOOST scholarship to (1) the current students, or (2) siblings of the current students. Eventually, there would be no more siblings . . . and the program would die,
- (Last year, the Senate cut that language!)
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Why do they try to kill BOOST?
Listen to the reasons they give . . .
But first, you'll hear from the one lone Democrat who cares about kids!
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Education savings accounts are another School Choice option. Children are unique individuals with different learning styles, different personalities, and different needs. If a student is having issues in their assigned public school, a high-income family has the option to withdraw their child and send him or her to a school that better fits their child's needs.
Lower-income families do not have that option.
to provide grants to families to defray specified costs related to nonpublic schooling for eligible students. Participating students are included in the enrollment count used to calculate required State and local education aid for local school systems. T
The purpose of an Education Savings account is to give parents the wherewithal to withdraw their children from public school by depositing a set amount of public funds into government-authorized savings accounts for the parents, with restricted, but multiple, uses, including but not limited to:
- tuition and fees at a qualifying school;
- textbooks or uniforms required by a qualifying school;
- private tutoring;
- the purchase of curriculum and instructional materials;
- tuition or fees for a nonpublic online learning program;
- fees for specified exams;
- education services from a licensed or accredited provider of services for students with special needs or disabilities;
- contracted education services provided at a public school;
- Internet service provider or online learning fees, if applicable; and e
- any other expenses approved by the Maryland Department of Education (MSDE).
The Fiscal Note for this bill is microscopic in a state budget of over $56 Billion.
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Witness testimony in opposition to the bill: The sky is falling!
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Testimony from the League of Women Voters:"The State's Primary responsibility is to support public school students."
- This is a common theme among the opponents of school choice; they are more committed to the "public schools" than they are to the students, and they believe that the once we pay our taxes, it becomes "public money" not to be put to use to fund anything other than public schools. What they do not understand is that we are paying for our children's education -- not to "support public schools."
Testimony from the teachers' union: "No matter how you look at it, vouchers undermine strong public education and student opportunity . . .They take scarce funding from public schools. ... This means public school students have less access to music instruments and science equipment, modern technology and textbooks, and after-school programs."
- This is the most common argument - and the most ludicrous.
- First, because the Program's Fiscal Note is less that $100,000,
- Second, Maryland puts an enormous amount of money into the state school system. And Baltimore City, where schools are, collectively, the worst, has one of the highest-per-pupil spending, administrative budget, and average teachers' salary in the nation; and,
- Beginning in FY 2024, home-schooled students will be included in public school enrollment counts thus significantly (and dubiously) increasing the amount of funding the department of education can command from the state.
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Testimony from the Maryland Association of Boards of Education: opposes any use of public funds "for not only those families choosing non-public schools, but also families choosing to provide home instruction, commonly known as home schooling.
- These organizations want to get rid of ALL forms of school choice education -- they support the public school system-- uber alles.
Testimony from the Anne Arundel Public Schools: "The diversion of public education funds to non public schools would impede the ability of localities to ensure an appropriate, safe, and equitable education for all students."
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Fund Students -- Not Schools |
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Kittleman Legislative Scholarship |
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High school seniors, current undergraduate students at a 4-year college, a community college, or a private career school are eligible to apply for a Legislative Scholarship.
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Please MAIL your applications to Delegate Trent Kittleman, Rm. 202, 6 Bladen Street, Annapolis, MD 21401. For questions regarding the application process, call my Annapolis office and speak with Chelsea Leigh Murphy, my Chief of Statt, at 410-841-3556.
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Authorized, Friends of Trent Kittleman, William Oliver, Treasurer |
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