About two decades before the sweeping educational reform known as the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, there was a different commission that laid the foundation.

This was even before what was known as Kirwan. It was the Maryland’s Commission on Education Finance, Equity, and Excellence also known as the Thornton Commission, named after chair Alvin Thornton.

In a recent interview with WYPR, Thornton shared how the Blueprint’s funding formula was created.

The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future will be implemented throughout the next 10 years and reform the state’s public education system. Policy aspects of the Blueprint are based on recommendations from the Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education or the Kirwan Commission formed in 2016. The primary goal is to address funding inequity and prepare students for careers.

The main goal of the Thornton Commission was to align Maryland’s performance expectations with adequate funding.

Read more and listen to the story at wypr.org.

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