Kirwan Commission is not the solution
Originally published in the Capital Gazette
There has been much discussion about the Kirwan Commission, the blue-ribbon panel convened to improve public education across Maryland. While we can agree that education must be improved the Kirwan Commission and its recommendations are flawed policies that burden the state with an unsustainable tab.
The commission recommendations are a laundry list of liberal priorities focused on expanding government and redistributing taxpayer dollars to liberal special interest groups. From universal pre-kindergarten, a focus on college preparation, to state-controlled syllabi and lesson plans for each class, it’s a rehash of failed ideas from the past.
As the Maryland Public Policy Institute said, “the suggestions do not offer systemic change, but aim to repeat failed policies of the past.”
To pay for the Kirwan Commission recommendations, the commission is recommending $4.4 billion in spending increases to fund their recommendations. This pleases education advocates and liberal interest groups, who believe that too little is spent on public schools.
The problem with that outlook is the fact that Maryland is already spending an extraordinary amount on public education. Four Maryland counties are among the top six counties in the United States in per-pupil spending, each spending more than $15,000 per student.
None of that matters to Kirwan proponents, who were promoting the results of the recent Goucher Poll that found 70% of respondents believe Maryland spends too little on public education. The poll itself was flawed for polling only adults instead of likely voters, but even the rest of the results were alarming. Of those polled, 77% indicated they would be willing to pay more in taxes but only 22% had ever heard of the Kirwan Commission, with an even smaller number actually knowing what the commission’s area of responsibility was.
That means the number of Marylanders who actually know that the Kirwan Commission is proposing spending that would increase taxes by over $6,000 per family every year is rather small.
Spending more money to do the same thing we’ve been doing for years is throwing good money after bad.
How can we improve schools? Obviously it’s not something that can be solved in a 600-word column. But start with the ABC’s:
Accountability: The biggest flaw in the Kirwan Commission is the lack of accountability for teachers, administrators, and others. Without SMART objectives (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) it is impossible to determine if teachers, students, administrators, or curricula is functioning. We must install SMART objectives that respect local control of schools while still understanding the need for statewide standards.
Bureaucracy: While we have seen our school systems continue to grow, not all of those additional jobs and additional personnel dollars have gone into the classroom. We continue to see bloated bureaucracies that create red tape for teachers and students and divert attention away from the classroom. We must reduce administrative positions throughout our school systems.
Competence: We need to emphasize competence across the board. Teachers need to be competent subject matter experts in their areas of expertise. Students need to be competent in the skills necessary to be successful in life, whether you go to college or learn a trade. Students must be competent in basic reading, writing, history, science, and economics before graduating from public schools.
The Kirwan Commission is an expensive prescription for cures already tried. If we want Maryland to have the best schools we possibly can have, seeing as public education is one of the few constitutional responsibilities entrusted to state government, it’s time to think outside the box instead of proposing plans masquerading as solutions that do little but pander to special interest groups.
Brian Griffiths is editor-in-chief of RedMaryland.com. He can be reached via email at brian@briangriffiths.com, on Twitter @BrianGriffiths, or on Facebook at facebook.com/briangriffithsmd.