HOGAN'S HOAXES: Governor Has Shortchanged Maryland’s Students

Annapolis, MD—Governor Larry Houdini is trying to pull off his greatest trick yet with his attempts to make his record on education disappear, but voters won’t be fooled. While Hogan tries to mislead Maryland voters with his new education ad, let’s set the record straight.

“At this point, Governor Hogan should just change his last name to Houdini and take his act on the road,”said Maryland Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Matthews. “The truth is that under Hogan, Maryland’s schools have fallen in national rankings each year.  More than $1 billion has been taken from our students to fund Hogan’s priorities and pet projects, and Betsy Devos knows she has an ally in the Governor’s Mansion.”

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 a constitutional amendment to “fix the fund” and ensure that all casino gaming revenue goes directly to the Education Trust Fund, 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. In March, 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 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. Less than a month into his term, Hogan tried to cut more than $100 million from Maryland’s public schools in his first budget. 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.