WILLIAM DONALD SCHAEFER, Governor

J.R. 9

Education in establishing a partnership task force, composed of parents, faculty,
support staff, and administrators at each school site to conduct an assessment of the
community and school to determine what is necessary to provide every Maryland
child an opportunity to learn; directing the State Department of Education to
compile a report of the findings for submission to the General Assembly; requiring a
certain State-level Task Force to make certain recommendations by a certain date; and
generally relating to Maryland's Public Schools.

"WHEREAS, The General Assembly affirms the proposition that all children can
learn; and

WHEREAS, Community conditions outside school, learning conditions inside
school, and economic opportunities influence a school's ability to carry out its academic
mission; and

WHEREAS, Investment in programs that strengthen families and communities is
needed today if we are to maintain our economic strength and national security; and

WHEREAS, Congress is considering adoption of Opportunity to Learn Standards,
which can be defined as the basis for providing all students a fair opportunity to achieve
the knowledge and skills prescribed by the Maryland State Department of Education for
student achievement; and

WHEREAS, The Maryland School Performance Program establishes databased
areas, with prescribed standards of satisfactory and excellent, which each public school
must meet by 1995 or be subject to the reconstitution provisions of COMAR 13A.01.04;
and

WHEREAS, The Maryland School Performance Program lacks any provision for
determining the adequacy of resources, equipment, and personnel at each school to
assure that each child has the necessary infrastructure for successful learning and that
disparities of educational opportunity within a school system have been offset; and

WHEREAS, The Governor's Commission on School Funding received information
demonstrating that the effects of a school's economic environment are a strong predictor
of a school's achievement on MSPP; and

WHEREAS, Research findings on student achievement should guide decisions
about allocating resources and making changes in school programs or structure; and

WHEREAS, A school's community of parents, teachers, support staff, and
administrators is in the best position to recommend what Opportunity to Learn Standards
ought to be and assess realistically whether Opportunity to Learn Standards, once
established, have been met at a particular school as a means of improving student
performance within a school; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, That the State
Board of Education is requested to adopt Opportunity to Learn Standards, applicable to
all Maryland public schools in consideration of:

(a) The following community conditions that affect student readiness to learn:

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