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Gov. Martin O'Malley toured the newly opened College Gardens Elementary School in Rockville to tout his aggressive program of building new schools around the state.
"We have made a truly historic investment," O'Malley said. O'Malley (D) compared his efforts to that of his predecessor, Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., who is seen as a potential 2010 gubernatorial rival.
"We've invested more in new schools in my first two years than my predecessor did his entire term," said O'Malley, who toured two Montgomery County schools Wednesday with County Executive Isiah Leggett (D).
Ehrlich could not be reached for comment. His former spokesman, Henry Fawell, said that in his four years, Ehrlich invested $885 million for new school construction, including $335 million in fiscal 2007. "We started construction on 45 schools and renovations on 52 more, and Governor Ehrlich did it all without raising taxes, unlike the current administration," Fawell said.
The state shortchanged school construction, storm water management and other projects for years, O'Malley said.
"The insidious thing is, you can stop making those investments and can get away with it for four or five years, but you'll pay a bigger price later," he said.
O'Malley also said he wants enough new school construction so that portable classrooms, which he referred to as "temporary learning shacks," are not needed at any school.
O'Malley stopped by Wednesday morning at College Gardens as part of his "Steady Progress for Maryland's Schools" tour. He visited Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda earlier in the morning.
College Gardens is a 76,000-square-foot facility for 740 students.
The students greeted O'Malley with "ni hao," Chinese for hello, and led him on the tour of the school, the first authorized to be an International Baccalaureate program.
"[O'Malley] has made this generous commitment to the school system in these tight times," Montgomery County Schools Superintendent Jerry Weast said.
In Montgomery County, the state has spent $98 million on new construction, a 240 percent increase from Ehrlich's tenure.
"We've received more from this governor in two years than the previous governor in four," Weast said.
New schools give students and teachers a better atmosphere to work in, he said.
"We have many aging facilities and a lot of work to do, but with backing from the county and state, we'll be ready to ensure the success of our students well into the future," said Nancy Navarro, president of the Montgomery County Board of Education.
Asked about how he would pay for the projects when the state could be facing yet another budgetary shortfall, O'Malley referenced the slot machine gambling referendum in November.
"That depends on what voters say in the fall," O'Malley said.
