Hatchet Man Hogan Silences Teachers and Parents

Annapolis, MD — Hatchet Man Hogan is at it again, this time blocking teachers and parents of current public school students from sitting on the state Board of Education.  Today, Hogan vetoed SB 739—bipartisan legislation to create two positions on the state school board for current Maryland teachers, and one position for the parent of a current Maryland public school student. 

“Apparently, Governor Hogan’s only standard for serving on the board is personal loyalty because his concern is his own power, not students,” said Maryland Democratic Party spokesperson Fabion Seaton.  “Governor Hogan doesn’t even vet his board nominees before putting them forward, but he will keep parents and teachers off the board so he can stack it with partisan hacks.  Maryland students deserve better, and Governor Hogan should be ashamed of himself.”

Last year, Hogan nominated Brandon Cooper to serve on the board, then refused to answer questions about his vetting process after troubling details from Cooper’s past—including a DUI and failure to pay Maryland taxes—became public.

Larry Hogan has diverted more than $1.4 billion in casino gaming revenue from the Education Trust Fund and he has allowed Maryland’s public school rankings to slip each year he has been in office.  After Democrats announced the Amendment, Hogan pulled an election-year stunt by introducing a watered-down version of the Democratic bill, which would not have prevented Hogan from continuing his practice of raiding the gaming revenue to pay for his budget.

Governor Hogan has a history of undermining public schools. Just last month,Hogan issued a veto threat of Democrats’ legislation to increase annual spending on school construction from $250 million per year to $400 million—including an additional $10 million for school safety.

Last March, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos was the very first Trump administration official hosted by Governor Larry Hogan in Maryland.  He has also sided against supporting Maryland’s neighborhood public schools while nominating hardline extremists to the state board of education.

In January, Hogan denied a request from legislators for $2.5 million in emergency funding to fix heating issues in Baltimore schools. In his first budget, Hogan wanted to cut $275 million from Maryland’s public schools. In 2016, he pushed to cut $30 million from new education spending that go towards after-school programs, college preparation, and teacher retention strategies. At the same time, Hogan tried to divert funding from public schools to unaccountable private schools.