1996 LAWS OF MARYLAND

provided, that $2,000,000 of this
appropriation is to be used by the
Baltimore City School System to begin to
attain Baltimore City public school
teacher salary parity with the salaries of
Baltimore County public school
teachers.

Further provided that $10,000,000 of this
appropriation for the City of Baltimore to
operate the public schools is contingent
upon the creation and progress in
implementation of a City-State Partnership
to manage the Baltimore City Public
Schools (BCPS) on a temporary basis. The
Partnership agreement shall be designed to
achieve the goals of increasing student
achievement and correcting management
deficiencies in the BCPS. The Partnership
agreement shall be structured to: promote
collaboration; articulate reasonable
expectations; create accountability; allow
for independent monitoring; maximize
limited resources; facilitate reform; focus on
key areas; and fulfill the BCPS' educational
mission. Every aspect of the Partnership
agreement shall be student-centered.

Further provided that $2 million of this
appropriation for teacher salary parity is
contingent upon the implementation of a
merit based, system wide teacher evaluation
system, as approved by the Partnership and
reviewed and commented upon by the State
Board of Education. The funds shall be
released after the budget committees receive
a request from the Partnership for release
of the funds accompanied by a report on the
establishment of the Partnership, the
progress in implementing the Partnership
goals, and implementation of a merit based,
system wide teacher evaluation system. The
budget committees shall have 45 days from
the date the report is received for review
and comment.

- 996 -

12,000,000

Ch. 13