Superintendent Martirano’s much-discussed redistricting plan has been touted by supporters as addressing wealth-based inequalities between Howard County Schools while at the same time relieving overcrowding. But Polygon 147, which houses the desirable (and overcrowded) Centennial High School, is not slated by this plan to be redistricted. Prior to the election of County Executive Calvin Ball, whose allies overwhelmingly and publicly support Martirano’s plan, Polygon 147 was intended to be moved to Wilde Lake High School’s district. That changed when, with Ball’s election, an existing redistricting plan was scrapped in favor of the current, allegedly more progressive, plan. Clarksville resident Steven Keller and a team of concerned citizens have assembled a document which shows a surprising money trail in connection to Polygon 147. A money trail that may lead outside Howard County.

Maryland Democrats in the General Assembly have rushed through a pair of bills which they say will “transform Maryland’s… education system to the levels of the highest-performing systems…” The price tag? $1,000,000,000 taxpayer dollars.

The bills, (SB 1030 / HB 1413) known as the “Kirwan Blueprint Bill,” or “Blueprint for Maryland’s Future,” implements recommendations of the Kirwan Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education, providing grants to students living in areas with a “concentration of poverty,” providing grants for teachers, and establishing an office of State Inspector General for Education. In addition, the House and Senate Bills provide state assistance to counties who commit to fund teacher salaries at an amount higher than that stipulated in their contracts.