Favorable
Committee: Budget and Taxation
SB0282 (R00A03.04)
The Maryland Catholic Conference offers this testimony in support of the Nonpublic Student Textbook Program allocation included in the proposed FY27 Operating Budget. The Conference represents the public policy interests of the three (arch)dioceses serving Maryland, the Archdioceses of Baltimore and Washington and the Diocese of Wilmington, which together encompass over one million Marylanders.
We offer this testimony on behalf of the families of approximately 50,000 students served by over 150 PreK-12 Catholic schools in Maryland, as well as the families of 138,000+ students attending Maryland’s nonpublic schools as a whole.
The Nonpublic Student Textbook Program is an imperative program for our nonpublic school parents, saving them considerable money annually on textbooks and technology, making for a better and more efficient learning environment for their students. This program benefits approximately 80,000 students in nearly 400 of Maryland’s nonpublic schools annually and is limited to students who attend schools that charge a tuition lower than the state per pupil average. In other words, it helps the parents and schools that really need it and for that we are grateful.
Schools with lower-income enrollments receive a higher allocation of textbook and technology assistance per student. As thousands of lower and middle-income families are served by Maryland’s Catholic schools every year, we urge you to maintain or increase this allocation on behalf of these students and working families, to whom this program provides a much-needed benefit.
Our schools are grateful to the General Assembly for its continued support for nonpublic schools, which educate one in every nine Maryland students. We are also grateful to the administrators at the Maryland State Department of Education, who dedicate themselves in service to all Maryland students, including our schools, to ensure that this and other programs operate successfully. We respectfully request your continued support for $6 million for the Nonpublic Student Textbook Program in the FY27 budget as a means of supporting our students and families.