The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1924-02-07

cents on each one hundred dollars of
assessable property, exclusive of the
amount levied for debt service and
capital outlay" = and chat the
County Board of Education in each
Of the several counties sharing in the
Equalization Fund shall expend no
less than twenty-four per cent of this
amount for purposes other than
teachers salaries"
The net result of the 1916 law and
its subsequent amendments has been:
l. To take the responsibility con-
corning the minimum standards
governing the operation and financ-
ing of the schools away from the
initiative of the several counties.
2. To impose upon the State the
responsibility Of providing machin-
cry for the oversight and co-ordi-
nation of the counties, and also to
provide the funds needed to main
tain the minimum State standards
in all counties that are unable to
do so on a sixty-seven cent school
tax rate.
The bulge amendment to the Con-
stitulion, which was passed in 1916,
in the second part of Subsection B,
says:
Each budget shall be divided in
to two parts, and the first part
! shall be designated Governmental
Appropriations and shall embrace
an itemized estimate Of the appro-
priations; (D for the General
Assembly as certified to the Cover
nor in the manner hereinafter pro-
vided; (2) for the Executive De-
partment; CO for the Judiciary
Department, as provided by law,
certified to the Governor by the
Comptroller; (4) to pay and dis
charge the principal and interest
of the debt OF the State of Mary
land in conformity with Section 81
Of Article III of the Constitution,
and all laws enacted in pursuance
thereof; % for the salaries pay
able by the State under the Consti-
tuition and laws of the State; co.
for the establishment and main
tenance throughout the State of a
thorough and efficient system Of
public schools in conformity with
Article VIII of the Constitution
and with the laws of the State; (O
for such other purposes as are set
forth in the Constitution of the
State
This seems to show that mainten-
ance for the county schools at the
standards set by the State is intended
to be a Governmental appropriation.
The third portion of Subsection B
also says:
"The General Assembly shall not
amend the budget bill so as to af-
feet either the obligations of the
State under Section 81 Of Article
III Of the Constitution, or the pro-
visions made by the laws Of the
State for the establishment and
maintenance Of a system of public
schools"
And in Subsection D, the second
paragraph saws:
"The estimates for the Legisla-
tive Department, certified by the
presiding officer of each House, of
the Judiciary, as provided by law,
certified by the Comptroller, and
for the public schools, as provided
by law, shall be transmitted to the
Governor, in such form and at such
times as he shall direct, and shall
be included in the budget without
revision"
These provisions of the Constitu-
ton certainly must have very dis
tinct meaning, and it seems to me
that this meaning is that when the
State Board of Education has re-
ceived from the various county
boards of education the exact esti-
mates, which the county superintend-
ents have calculated from audited
data, showing. what will be the
States share of the cost of running
their schools according to the State
standards, and these separate esti-
mates have been checked in every de-
tail by the State Superintendent and
consolidated into a general state
budget for the schools, this cOnsoli-
dated budget becomes a fixed charge
which is beyond the discretion of the
Executive and the Legislature so long
as the law that establishes the school
standards remains in effect.
These provisions of the Constitu-
ton, in conjunction with the school,
law, have placed the schools in the
position of being the only social obi
cation of the State whose standards
are legally established. Of so great
Importance were the schools con
sidered by the trainers and amenderS
of the Constitution that it is express.
ly provided that they shall be main
tanned in freedom from financial vi
u. NJ.