Business Leaders Want Kirwan Plan Fully Funded

As business leaders, we strongly support the Kirwan Commission legislation that would dramatically improve education practice, funding and accountability in
Maryland.

As business people, we are often measured by our bottom-line-results. Today the results of current practice, funding and accountability in Maryland fall far short of
meeting the demands for our state’s continued success. Those results impede economic productivity while sending large numbers of fellow citizens into prisons and forcing reliance on costly public assistance like Medicaid.

The cost of maintaining the status quo is much too high in terms of financial impact, quality of life and fairness. Maryland must change now, not sometime in the future.

Passing and funding The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future is a no-brainer. The greatest challenge we face in our businesses is finding enough qualified people to fill open positions. The lack of a qualified workforce is a material constraint on growth and investment and therefore, on the state’s economy. As the nation and Maryland’s population continues to age, this problem will only worsen.

Click here to read the full opinion piece.

Source: Maryland Matters

This opinion piece was authored by  MPN members Donald Manekin of Seawall Development, Arnold Richman and Marilynn Duker of Brightview Senior Living as well as non-members James DeGraffenreidt of WGL Holdings and Washington Gas Light Co and William Moore of Southway Builders, Inc.