Md. Panel Proposes Steering More Funds to Poor Districts

By Jessica Portner

Maryland should overhaul its school-finance system to channel money from the state's most affluent counties to several poorer ones, a commission appointed by Gov. William Donald Schaefer has urged.

Under the proposal, which would increase the state's education budget by nearly $1 billion over the next five years, such jurisdictions as Baltimore City and Prince George's County would receive more funding, while at least four other counties--notably Montgomery County, an affluent Washington suburb--would see their state education aid decrease.

The state's current $2 billion education budget, which is already slated to increase by $634 million by 1999, would rise by an additional $332...