Committee Mission
Identify and promote policies, best practices, and effective models that will ensure Hispanic students participate in enriched learning opportunities from early childhood and Pre-K to post secondary education to increase graduation rates leading to success in Maryland’s public schools and higher education system.
2009 Goals
- Create a “Blueprint on the State of Education of Latinos in Maryland” and develop policy recommendations for stakeholders to increase high quality K – 12 education in Maryland.
- Identify and analyze local, state, and national elementary schools models that are having exemplary success with Latino children to make recommendations for implementation of these models in Maryland.
- Ensure Maryland collects accurate data on enrollment, graduation and dropout rates for Hispanic students.
2008 Accomplishments
- Collaborated to hold the first Maryland Latino Education Policy Summit in April 2008, to examine the educational needs of the growing Hispanic student population.
- Participated in the “State of Latinos in Education” Summit in Washington, DC, which offered perspective into nationwide trends of Hispanic students, provided best practices and effective model programs that increase student performance, achievement, and overall success in the US public schools and higher education.
- Participated in the “Understanding the Latino Population in Maryland” Forum in partnership with Education Based Latino Outreach (EBLO) and private Catholic schools of Baltimore City, Maryland.
Overview
Maryland’s record investment in public education has promoted our state to the #1-ranked-in-the-nation public school system, as stated in EducationWeek Magazine. A 90.5 percent increase in spending on a per-pupil basis from $3,432 in FY 2002 to $6,538 in FY 2009, combined with additional federal and local funding brings total funding for each student attending a Maryland school to $13,500. Ascendant progress can also be expected due to public school construction investments over three years which exceed $1 billion to ensure that children move from temporary classrooms to state-of-the-art learning facilities. The educational achievement of high school students in Maryland has improved, as they are outpacing their counterparts nationwide in Advance Placement test scores, and for the fourth straight year, Governor O’Malley has frozen in-state tuition rates and allocated increased funding for higher education. This funding has prioritized community colleges in particular, for the rising number of students and families seeking higher education at these institutions given the need to mitigate rising tuition rates.
Hispanic students continue to experience mixed results. According to the 2007 Maryland Report Card prepared by the Maryland State Department of Education they meet adequate yearly progress (AYP) in both reading and math proficiency. However, their performance is low relative to white and Asian students. Hispanic students’ overall achievement is marked by three distressing traits: wide disparities in student performance, below average graduation rates, and above average student dropout rates. For the first time since the proposals were enacted in 2002, the O’Malley-Brown Administration fully funded both the Bridge to Excellence in Public Schools Act (committing the state to increased funding for greater educational standards) and the Geographic Cost of Education Index (progressive school funding to meet high costs of living), in 2008 thus helping to equalize learning opportunities. Building upon this, the Education Committee was part of the first Maryland Latino Education Policy Summit, an effort by Hispanic education experts in collaboration with parents, students, advocates, and community and government leaders statewide. These stakeholders gathered at the University of Maryland, College Park, to examine the educational needs of the growing Hispanic student population. The Committee is now enhancing a set of recommendations for the Governor, the General Assembly, and the Maryland State Department of Education, produced by the leading education experts that hosted the Summit. These recommendations are forthcoming and will play a major role in the Committee’s future agenda.