[gblake]

I have a guess that the two current bills are barking up a slightly wrong tree, and that the Tax Code is a better tree to bark up. States often encourage private sector activities by offering tax incentives to everyone, instead of by giving out grants to a smaller set of recipients.

What does your (or whoever is advising the legislature) analysis of statewide needs tell you about who needs help the most (students who aren't being exposed to opportunities, and who don't know what they can accomplish), and about where those students are.

I'm not saying anything new when I notice that Maryland's needs span everything from big city suburbs, to inner city communities, to rural agricultural regions, to commuter exurbs, to small cities, to ... It's more than a cliche to say that one size will not fit all.

The legislature needs to (obviously) develop a plan that helps the entire state, and solves (first) the state problems that are both the most important and most urgent. My hunch is that those problems/needs (numbers of students, and greatest missed opportunities) are in the low-income and inner-city regions.

When I looked at this in the past, I only scratched the surface, but what I found out definitely led me in the direction of suggesting somehow seeding large areas of the state with many small projects that have a low cost-per-student and reach students who aren't already on a tech track.

My guess is that the first problems that should be solved are more fundamental than a lack of big-ticket registration fees, or sophisticated maker spaces. Hundreds/thousands of students need to first be prepared to take advantage of those things before they can pay off properly.

There are people in the FIRST and related communities who have given me wise advice about Maryland's needs in the past. Would you like me to pull together some names for you? I'm guessing that you are already in contact with them, but there might be a new name or two in the group.

Blake