of a free society, and in this troubled world our peace and our free-
dom may well hinge on the effort we make to give the young people
of our country the best available education and training. Our pro-
gram of public education in Maryland has been broadened, intensified
and accelerated in each successive budget for the past several years,
with the result that, viewed at any level from the elementary grades
through college and university, Maryland holds a position of high
rank in relationship to the rest of the country. Maryland ranks among
the top ten of the 50 States and the District of Columbia, for example,
in average salaries for all classroom teachers and also in per-pupil
expenditures. The $5, 940 average salary for Maryland teachers is
$413 higher than the national average, and the $443 it spends per
pupil exceeds the national average by $29.

The administration has pursued an undeviating course toward
improving both the quantity and the quality of education in our
public school system. This policy is evident in the budget I am sub-
mitting for the Department of Education, which calls for a total
expenditure of nearly $131, 000, 000, or some $8, 500, 000 more than we
appropriated last year for educational purposes. In aid to education,
Baltimore City and the twenty-three counties, under my recommenda-
tions, will receive 6, 616, 000 more next year than this year. Provision
is made to meet the requirements of an expanding school population.
Provision is also being made to increase the aid to the subdivisions
by some $316, 000 to assist them in the problem of increased enroll-
ments in the junior colleges.

Both the operational and the capital budgets which I am presenting
for your consideration reflect the deep concern this administration
has for improving our public institutions of higher learning—the
University of Maryland and its Princess Anne branch, Morgan State
College and the five state teachers colleges.

You are aware that a special commission now is making a study of
this problem with the aim of devising a plan that will fulfill present
and future needs in this all-important field of endeavor. The Com-
mission has made satisfactory progress in the work it has undertaken,
but I am advised that we may not expect a report and recommenda-
tions at this session of the general assembly.

Meanwhile, I am proposing that we proceed at all practicable
speed in plant construction and equipment and in staffing our in-
stitutions under the present system.

The capital budget, as I have indicated, makes allowances for

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