Gov. Hogan Said Vouchers Don’t Take Money from Public Schools. He Lied.

His new budget just proved it.

Gov. Hogan faces questions during a press conference on his new budget. (Credit: Executive Office of the Governor)

Here’s a quick recap of the Q&A between Gov. Hogan and interviewers from the Maryland Crabs podcast on December 22, when they discussed Gov. Hogan’s proposal to double his private school voucher program (known as BOOST):

Maryland Crabs: “Another thing that you’re hot on this year is BOOST. That is…scholarships for private school education…is that in any way taking money away from public school funding?”

Gov. Hogan: “No, if anything it provides for more public school funding.”

I know, James Harden. We were skeptical, too. (Source: Giphy)

The governor goes on to argue that if students leave public schools to attend private schools, there will be fewer students and therefore more per pupil funding. But there are two major problems with that talking point:

One, 78% of students benefiting from the voucher program were already enrolled in private schools.

And two, Maryland’s school funding formula is based on per pupil spending in a way that school districts lose state funding for every student who leaves their system. That’s why counties with declining student enrollments, like Carroll County, lose state education funding. So a program that results in even just a few students leaving the public school system literally costs that district state school funding—the exact opposite of what Gov. Hogan claimed.

Hogan Cuts After-School and Other Public School Programs in His Budget

But even if we give Gov. Hogan the benefit of the doubt on his questionable description of how Maryland’s school funding works, there’s more to show he’s being loose with the truth.

We now know that during his interview with Maryland Crabs, Gov. Hogan’s team was working on a budget that would increase funding for private school vouchers from $5 million to $7 million, while cutting similarly-priced public school programs. His budget cuts three important line items:

1. Public Schools Opportunities: $7.5 million for after-school and summer programs
2. Next Generation Scholars: $5 million for college readiness scholarships
3. Teacher Induction and Retention: $8 million to reduce teacher turnover

Gov. Hogan’s budget makes cuts to several strategic public school investments.

Maryland’s budget must be balanced — so it becomes a zero-sum game that shows exactly what the governor prioritizes. That means Gov. Hogan had to remove each of those public school programs from his budget in order to make room for his private school voucher program. Yet, when asked if his budget created such a result, the governor lied and said it didn’t.

Hogan Also Cut Funding for Teacher Pensions

That wasn’t the only instance of Gov. Hogan being completely inconsistent with his own statements. His budget also cuts more than $45 million in planned contributions to the teacher pension fund. This is noteworthy because Gov. Hogan has scolded Democrats for doing something similar.

In 2015, after Gov. Hogan tried to cut $144 million from public schools, leaders in the General Assembly transferred $75 million dedicated to supplementing the pension fund to help close the gaps in public education funding. Hogan then refused to release $68 million for schools in the state legislature-approved budget, claiming:

“I’ve decided not to follow the General Assembly’s recommendation to raid the pension fund. Doing so would be shortsighted and irresponsible, and I was elected to end this very type of reckless budgeting and governing.”

Well, except not right now. It’s clear that private school vouchers are Gov. Hogan’s top funding priority this year.

(Source: Giphy)