This morning's paper brought a rude shock on page 3 of the Metro section journalist Nelson Hernandez reports that MCPS could be required to pay between 16 and 64 MILLION dollars in fines due to a compromise hashed out last spring between the county and the board of education to meet state spending requirements.

The story is so convoluted but here is what I understand. The state sets minimum levels of funding for its counties and in the last year, as the county faced a huge budget crisis, the board of education asked the state to allow them to reduce spending. The state BOE denied the request citing the similar circumstances around the state. The county scrambled to find a way to bring its spending in line with the states expectations and yet also be fiscally responsible. The county council ultimately ordered the board of education to pay back the money owed on school construction, which typically the county would pay for.

Doug Gansler, the state Attorney General has issued an opinion that this solution is "artificial" and therefore illegal since it gives the appearance of spending more money while not actually spending the money on education. It is now up to the state board of education to decide what, if anything, the fine should be.

For what it is worth, Prince George's County hit upon a similar solution. We will have to wait and see how that plays out.

What impact will this have on our little corner of MCPS. It's hard to say at this point. On the one hand, it could force the county and the BOE to fund MCPS more fully. On the other hand, I also like to have police and a fire department. What do you think?