Annapolis, MD — Maryland Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Matthews issued the following statement on Governor Larry Hogan’s education funding proposal:
“Instead of working with Democrats to increase investment in Maryland’s schools, Governor Hogan is playing political jiu-jitsu with a watered-down version of legislation Democratic lawmakers proposed weeks ago. It’s a typical election year stunt.
“Voters will remember that Governor Hogan has spent his entire term trying to bring Betsy DeVos’ war on public schools to Maryland, and that under his watch, Maryland schools have dropped in national rankings three years in a row after being the best for five consecutive years.
“Governor Hogan is no champion of public schools, and no amount of cynical election year maneuvering will erase his track record of failing our students.”
Governor Larry Hogan has sided against supporting Maryland’s neighborhood public schools while nominating hardline extremists to the state board of education.
Just last month, 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. Last year, 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.
Hogan even took a page from Trump’s bullying playbook last year and called hardworking public school teachers “thugs.”