Status Challenged

The high quality of HoCo schools, and to a larger extent, Maryland public schools are often cited as justification for state taxes that are above average. Money spent on public education is an investment in our future. The consistent top ranking of Maryland and HoCo schools seems to suggest that we are getting a good return on that investment.

Then again, maybe we aren’t.

In this op-ed piece by David V. Anderson and Herbert J. Walberg in The Sun, our four year number ranking from Education Week is called into question. The two researchers suggest that, based on the National Assessmentof Educational Progress, Maryland schools are the sixth best in the nation. Massachusetts, which spends almost the same amount as Maryland per student, was number 1.