Maryland governor allots $4 million for program in nonpublic schools

Published: 2006-01-10

DUNDALK, Md. (CNS) -- In a Jan. 5 assembly at a Catholic school in the Baltimore Archdiocese, Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. announced he will allot $4 million in the state budget for the funding of the textbook and technology program in nonpublic schools. The figure represents a $1 million increase from last year, but is $2 million short of what had been requested by Catholic school leaders and Cardinal William H. Keeler of Baltimore. "To make education work in Maryland, we need to have a very strong public school system," Ehrlich said at the assembly at Our Lady of Hope-St. Luke School in Dundalk. "We need to have a very strong parochial school system and we need a very strong private school system. They're all complementary. The state should help -- and it does." Ronald J. Valenti, superintendent of Catholic schools, said he was "very grateful" that nonpublic school students will continue receiving funding for nonreligious textbooks and technology, but he was "a little disappointed" that funding is "still far below" the $6 million allotted when the program began in 2001.

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