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Sunday, December 15, 2019

Governor Hogan to Invest $130 Million More for Pre-K Expansion and Other Education Priorities



Continues Record Education Investment, Will Introduce Legislation for Free AP Exams for Low-Income Students

ANNAPOLIS, MD—Governor Larry Hogan today, following his recent announcement to launch the next chapter of education reform in Maryland, committed another $130 million in additional education spending, including prekindergarten expansion and Concentrations of Poverty Grants. The governor will also introduce new legislation to expand access to Advanced Placement (AP) tests for low-income students.

“I believe very strongly that every single child in Maryland deserves access to a world-class education, regardless of what neighborhood they happen to grow up in, and that commitment must begin with our youngest Marylanders,” said Governor Hogan. “Education has been, and will continue to be, our administration’s highest priority. With this funding, we are reaffirming our commitment to provide increased investment for our schools, more accountability for Maryland parents, teachers, and taxpayers, and most importantly, better results for our children.”

Pre-K Expansion


More than $100 million will be dedicated over the next two years to expand access to early support and interventions for young children and their families, including access to high-quality, full-day prekindergarten for three- and four-year-olds. In Fiscal Year 2020, $31.7 million in Pre-K Supplemental Grants provided funding for more than 8,000 four-year-olds in full-day Pre-K.

The governor also committed more than $30 million over two years to fund Concentration of Poverty Grants to provide full-time coverage of health care practitioners and community school coordinators. The funding would also include wraparound services for extended learning time, safe transportation to school, and additional social workers, mentors, counselors, and psychologists. This investment would allow the state to provide funding for a total of 309 local schools.

Since taking office, Governor Hogan has invested a record $32 billion in K-12 education and committed over $420 million above the current funding levels required by legislatively mandated formulas. Additionally, this year the governor released $255 million for the Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education’s Fiscal Year 2020 spending plan.

AP Opportunities Act of 2020

Governor Hogan committed to fund over $1 million with the AP Opportunities Act of 2020 to provide low-income students in Maryland access to AP tests free of charge. This legislation would cover the costs of over 25,500 AP exams.

“With this important legislation, we are giving deserving Maryland students from low-income families the opportunity to take AP exams free of charge,” said Governor Hogan. “We are excited to expand access to the AP program, which gives high school students the chance to pursue college-level studies, allows them to learn skills that are essential to college and career access, and provides students with an opportunity to save time and money through college placement and credit-granting policies.”

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

This should come straight from the gambling revenue as promised....we should NOT have to pay an extra penny!

Anonymous said...

Sbynews

I am hoping you can make this a separate posted comment

I live in mardela springs there a disgusting family living at 309 main St who have 2 little dogs the dogs bark consistently every day n night , The other day I observed a black male in his 20s grab one of the dogs by the neck and shove it in a outside cage with no proper protection from the elements/cold the dogs barks all night ... I/We the community have called this in to the wicomico countrys animal control several times with NUMEROUS complaints at 749 1070 with these people and NOTHING gets done. No call backs no response on PRIOR complaints this is terrible on the county's part for not making contact with ALL Involved.

Anonymous said...

Hogan how bad are you going to screw us on taxes before, if you ever do, cut all this unnecessary spending and hiding of educational money that is already allocated? There are to many chiefs not doing their JOB with outlandish salary and benefits that need to be reevaluated and CUT.

Anonymous said...

Is this money already in the taxes or are our taxes going up for this waste of money?

Anonymous said...


"Education Investment" is a liberal-left spin term.

Tons of money have been thrown at the 'education' problem with very little (if any) improvement.

The Pre-K push is nothing more than a government-funded daycare program.

How much is the per-student spending in Baltimore?

What is the result?

This is total BS.

Anonymous said...

Nothing will change until the thugs and criminals are EXPELLED from school.

Anonymous said...

Low income student already get the AP exams at a discount or free of charge. How about throwing a bone to successful students regardless of parents income??? We have paid 600 for the AP test this year, to be given in the spring. I guess, since I do not qualify for FARM, this is deemed acceptable?!

Anonymous said...

It does not matter how much money you throw its impossible to educate thugs with an IQ of 70

Anonymous said...

11:32 you may have paid $600 to take several different AP tests, for a few of your kids, but not for just one test. Each test is $94.

Anonymous said...

It is very nice of Gov. Hogan to spend 130 million of his own money on this. Oh, it's not his money? So whose is it? Sorry, stupid question.

Anonymous said...

Pre-K was implemented because today's society can not teach their children even the very BASICS at home. They stand around hitting other kids, can't sit down and then crap their pants and cry for somebody to change them. School is a direction of society today. Do something about it or just shut up.

TheRealRay said...

Double speak for illegal hispanic criminals children... don't doubt me...

Anonymous said...

You are correct, it was for 2 kids and you have to add the fees they charge as well.

Anonymous said...

This is such a waste of money. They have tried this experiment and it has failed.
The Head start, and pre-K programs were to bring up the children of color to the level of their white counterparts, to allow them to all have the same educational advantages.
Well 50 years later and nothing has changed. Black kids are still dropping out, and not graduating at alarming rates.

Time to put this money into a different program, maybe more cops since the kids turn to crime when they can't get a job.

Anonymous said...

Hogan said his side walk gets icing after a winter. He decided to use our tax money to dig it up and install a heated side walk at the governor’s mansion. Pretty sure spending OUR MONEY is a big deal.

Anonymous said...

Another feel good liberal policy by a supposed Republican. What else is new? Hogan has never demonstrated the principles of conservatism, yet continues to parade around with his R in his back pocket.

Think about it. In today’s economy there’s virtually no reason whatsoever for anyone to plead legitimate poverty. There are more jobs than workers looking for jobs. If the parents of these students really want their kids to take AP they will find a way to pay for it.

Agree with the comment above, this is a ruse for paying for illegal aliens. Hasn’t Maryland had enough of paying for kids who are here illegally and trashing their schools/students? Hogan should stop BSing everyone and either cooperate with ICE or change to be a Democrat.