Valentino-Smith Proposes School Funding Disclosure Legislation

The following is a press release from  Maryland District 23A Delegate Geraldine Valentino-Smith:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                            CONTACT: GERALDINE VALENTINO-SMITH        

JANUARY 26, 2012                                                           PHONE:  301-858-3101

                                                                                                E-MAIL:  geraldine.valentino@house.state.md.us

VALENTINO-SMITH SEEKS TO STRENGTHEN PUBLIC’S

PARTNERSHIP WITH PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD

In keeping her pledge to strengthen the public’s partnership with the Prince George’s County Public School System, Delegate Geraldine Valentino-Smith has authored and introduced legislation requiring the Prince George’s County School Board to develop and operate a searchable web site which would allow the public to search school funding by individual school. 

Currently it is difficult to determine the funding for individual schools and how the funds are spent at each school.  The budget books are so voluminous that it is extremely difficult to extract information from them for each individual school.  Through ongoing communications with her constituents, the Delegate realizes that most parents don’t have time to attend lengthy School Board meetings and comb through the complex data in the budget reports. 

With the passage of PG 410-12 Education-Prince George’s County School Board Budgets-Transparency, the public would be given access to important school board spending data in a clear, easy to read format.

Says Valentino-Smith, “Enactment of this bill will enable parents, students, teachers and our county citizens to readily and easily access information regarding how education funding is spent at the local school level.  This kind of web-based information will demonstrate a full commitment to making the public partners in our important mission to ensure clarity and understanding for education investment and spending.”

The bill has garnered enthusiastic support from a wide range of organizations including SEIU 400, ASASP, AFSCME 2250, the Prince George’s County NAACP, the African American Democratic Club of Prince George’s County, People for Change of Prince George’s County and PGCMA.

The bill is currently up for discussion in the Prince George’s County Delegation and will be voted on in the coming weeks.