The St. Mary’s County Board of Education has decided to take a more active role this year in the legislative process of the Maryland General Assembly. On the opening day of the 2014 session, the board voted to endorse legislative positions of the Maryland Associations of Boards of Education (MABE) and the Public School Superintendent’s Association of Maryland (PSSAM).
The request to be more involved was made by School Superintendent Dr. Michael Martirano, who is president this year of PSSAM. Martirano said that other school systems have staff dedicated to the legislative process, but St. Mary’s doesn’t. It is thus up to the board to take a more active role, he said.
While the board adopted the general legislative agendas of the two organizations, they have not yet taken positions on specific bills, although they intend to do so as the session unfolds. Items expected to surface during the session include starting school after Labor Day and setting up a new committee, similar to the Thornton Commission, to review state funding of education.
The Following is the MABE legislative agenda supported by the school Board:
· Support for continued governance autonomy for local boards of education to set education policy
and school budgets; and opposition to unfunded mandates – MABE supports continued autonomy for
all local boards to adopt education policies that promote high standards for academic and fiscal
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