Melissa, I find your work intriguing simply because your work shows how much money Maryland is willing to spend for richer counties while also not investing in poorer counties. I think your work is also interesting because Maryland invests so much money into their prison systems compared to education. I think that Maryland as a state should probably reallocate certain funds to, for instance, education in poorer, urban counties and therefore eliminate the need for such a high budget for prisons. What do you think? Could increasing the budget for education lower incarceration rates? Or would better organizing the funds schools get now be enough?
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Vanessa Garcia
May 10, 2020
Hi Melissa! Thank you for sharing your research. Growing up in Maryland, I’ve always seen disparities between counties because of differences in the socioeconomic status of residents. Recently, I learned that the wealth gap between counties becomes even more extreme because wealthier counties tend to have more active PTA’s that raise thousands of dollars for schools. Have you come across any mention of PTA’s and how they influence school wealth?
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Karenna Barton
May 10, 2020
I was interested in your project because it reminded me a lot of what we discussed in MLAW classes, in that Maryland public schools continue to be underfunded, further perpetuating disparities between privileged and underprivileged children across the state. The statistic that you gave, "Maryland will spend 95% more money to educate students in richer counties than poorer counties" was quite jarring to read." I am curious to hear what you think the solution to the funding inequities in the school systems would be. In what ways would you propose to enact change?
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Elise Parker
May 04, 2020
Hi Melissa! Your project really stood out to me since I'm from Maryland, and I definitely have seen the effects of unequal school funding in the state. I was not familiar with the Bridge to Excellence Act beforehand, however, and it was interesting to learn that improper allocation of funding is the true source of inequity in schools. What would you propose these poorer districts do at this point to better educate their students?
Melissa, I find your work intriguing simply because your work shows how much money Maryland is willing to spend for richer counties while also not investing in poorer counties. I think your work is also interesting because Maryland invests so much money into their prison systems compared to education. I think that Maryland as a state should probably reallocate certain funds to, for instance, education in poorer, urban counties and therefore eliminate the need for such a high budget for prisons. What do you think? Could increasing the budget for education lower incarceration rates? Or would better organizing the funds schools get now be enough?
Hi Melissa! Thank you for sharing your research. Growing up in Maryland, I’ve always seen disparities between counties because of differences in the socioeconomic status of residents. Recently, I learned that the wealth gap between counties becomes even more extreme because wealthier counties tend to have more active PTA’s that raise thousands of dollars for schools. Have you come across any mention of PTA’s and how they influence school wealth?
I was interested in your project because it reminded me a lot of what we discussed in MLAW classes, in that Maryland public schools continue to be underfunded, further perpetuating disparities between privileged and underprivileged children across the state. The statistic that you gave, "Maryland will spend 95% more money to educate students in richer counties than poorer counties" was quite jarring to read." I am curious to hear what you think the solution to the funding inequities in the school systems would be. In what ways would you propose to enact change?
Hi Melissa! Your project really stood out to me since I'm from Maryland, and I definitely have seen the effects of unequal school funding in the state. I was not familiar with the Bridge to Excellence Act beforehand, however, and it was interesting to learn that improper allocation of funding is the true source of inequity in schools. What would you propose these poorer districts do at this point to better educate their students?