Cox Would Defund Public Education As Governor

MARYLAND  —  While most of culture warrior Dan Cox’s discussion of education on the campaign trail revolves around his obsession with transgender youth, the Republican gubernatorial nominee has yet to answer for how he would make up for the funding he intends to take out of the public school system or how little funding he would allocate.

Here are the facts:

• Cox’s agenda would threaten access to quality education in Maryland. Cox seeks to divert funding to private schools while pushing an agenda that would cut overall education funding.

• Cox has advocated for totally eliminating Maryland’s income tax. Cox’s plan would jeopardize funding for vital services, including education. Cox has promoted this radical tax scheme as “a centerpiece of his economic vision” – even though it would be a fiscal disaster that would dismantle the state budget and lead to brutal cuts to essential services.

• In 2021, Maryland collected just over $25 billion in total tax revenue. Cox’s proposal would cut over $12 billion from that– nearly half. About a third of the budget goes to funding health programs for Marylanders and just under a fifth funds public K-12 education and local libraries, combining to account for 48 percent of services covered under the budget. Cox’s haphazard and thoughtless proposal to cut off nearly half of all revenue collected by the state would require devastating cuts sure to impact education.

• Cox opposes the Kirwan Education Blueprint, calling it a huge debacle of money.

• Cox has routinely opposed education funding: