Morning Read: Should Maryland Spend More On Education?

Despite being one of the highest taxed-states, 65 percent of Maryland residents say they believe the state spends too little on public education, a new Goucher poll found.

State and local governments are expected to spend an estimated $19.7 billion on education in fiscal year 2013, with $5.3 billion of that coming from the state. Annual education spending in Maryland has increased by more than $7 billion since 2002, according to the Maryland Reporter.

A new report by the State Department of Education was also released Wednesday and found Maryland students graduated high school last year at the highest rate in recent history. Eighty-three percent of students who started high school in 2007-2008 graduated in 2011. Maryland's public school system has ranked top in the nation for four years in a row.

The Goucher poll also found that 60 percent of people polled thought high-income earners in Maryland are taxed “too little.” (The state passed a tax hike for the state’s highest income earners in May) In comparison, only 4.8 percent of people thought middle-income earners were taxed too little.

On the important ballot measures facing Maryland voters next week: Half of Maryland residents indicate that they support expanded gambling in the state, while 44 percent oppose it. Fifty-five percent of residents support allowing same-sex couples to marry legally in Maryland and 39 percent oppose it.

Sixty-percent of the poll’s respondents have a favorable opinion of Obama while 26 percent have a favorable opinion of Romney.

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