Anne Arundel County Public Schools Interim Superintendent Mamie J. Perkins released the following statement today in the wake of County Executive Laura Neuman’s presentation urging the General Assembly delegation to work to increase state school construction funding for the county:
“County Executive Neuman is exactly right when she says that the children in our county should not take a back seat to others around the state when it comes to the quality of our educational facilities. The fact is that we are where we are because of a historic chronic underfunding of our infrastructure needs. We have 51 school buildings that are 40 or more years old. The facilities in which we educate our children play a critical role in their success, and we simply need to catch up.”
Mrs. Perkins also noted that the 2014 Legislative Program approved by the Board of Education supports an increase in the state/local cost-sharing formula for Anne Arundel County to bring the county in line with other jurisdictions across Maryland. The formula currently calls for a 50 percent cost-share for Anne Arundel County, the lowest tier in the state.