Nearly two dozen Maryland schools can’t get a single student to math proficiency, while public-school funding increases by $2 billion  

Maryland’s public-school advocates often use the term “underfunded” to describe the current system, but they fail to note when academic performance deteriorates or remains stagnant after increased funding, argues one government watchdog.

“A significant amount of my time has been looking at education spending,” David Williams, president of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, told the local Fox affiliate in Baltimore. “Politicians are stuck in a mindset where they think spending more money is going to produce better results. It doesn’t.”

Williams highlighted the recent Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program, or MCAP, which found “shameful” underperformance among the state’s schools in math proficiency.

“Project Baltimore analyzed the MCAP results and found, statewide, 23 schools did not have one student who tested proficient in math,” the news article explained.

“Overall, 46 Maryland public schools had two or fewer total students test proficient in math.”

Such dismal results reflect a longtime trend Williams has seen over the 32 years he’s worked as a “taxpayer watchdog,” according to the Fox affiliate.

“This has been happening for decades,” he said. “Common sense dictates if you don’t see results, you stop what you are doing. You don’t keep doing the same thing over and over again.”

Billions spent, little change 

State and local taxes poured $12.3 billion into Maryland’s public education system in 2023, increasing to $14.3 billion by 2025, the outlet noted.

“What have taxpayers received for that money?” reporter Chris Papst asked. “According to state data, while funding is up 16%, graduation rates are up 1 percentage point, from 86% in 2022 to 87% in 2024.”

Still, government officials defended the massive outlays.

“I’m relatively confident that we’re going to see significant improvement,” said Ike Leggett, chair of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future Accountability and Implementation Board.

The state’s Blueprint education reform plan, also known as Kirwan, aims to increase public-school funding by billions more over 10 years. It was passed in 2021.

“If you want to have the best for our state, this is an investment on that,” Leggett told journalists. “I don’t think we have any other choice.”

Calls for choice 

Taxpayers Protection Alliance’s Williams takes issue with that viewpoint, arguing the state should allow more competition and choice for families to select the schools they think are best for their children.

“There has to be a breaking point,” he said. “When is Annapolis going to say enough is enough and just spending more money is not making our kids any smarter?”