Somebody splain this to me

Let me see if I understand this correctly. Montgomery County, MD didn't spend enough money on its school system last year because it was so strapped for cash in the bad economy. So now Montgomery County Schools may have to pay up to $64 Million in fines to the state, leaving less money for educating its children. Do I have that right?

The opinion is the latest development in a debate over the funding of schools that has raged since March, at times pitting county governments against school boards

School funding debates between county governments and school boards? Oh, do tell.

The central issue has been the ability of local governments to comply with Maryland's "maintenance of effort" which sets minimum spending on education.

Virginia has a similar law, called the "Standards of Quality." Every single school system in Virginia exceeds the spending required by the Standards of Quality, so it's not an especially high hurdle to clear. And still, the financial situation in Virginia is dire enough that the legislature is considering reducing the standards of quality because they're not sure all districts can afford to keep them up. Apparently we're not alone in that:

During the economic recession, Montgomery and Prince George's have had trouble meeting the spending requirement.

So what's a county government with financial troubles and a big expensive school system to do? Hmmmm (scratching my chin):

Montgomery and Prince George's county councils ordered their school systems to reimburse them for debt service on public school construction, an expense usually covered by the counties.

Yeah, I probably should have seen that one coming. So to recap... the county council (equivalent to Virginia's Boards of Supervisors) ordered the school system to surrender millions of dollars. I'm with you so far. But that's not a problem because it's all the same taxpayer money, right?

The attorney general described that move as an "artificial" way of meeting the minimum requirement for education spending while actually decreasing the amount spent on education.

Uh oh. I guess they're going to come down hard on those county councils then.

The 21-page opinion issued by Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler could leaveMontgomery County liable for $16 million to $64 million in penalties, county officials said. The state Board Of Education will decide whether to penalize the school systems.

Wait. The county councils raid the school budgets to balance their own, and as a result the school systems may have to pay millions of dollars in fines to the state? Okay, now you've lost me.

I'm sure glad nothing like that could happen here in Loudoun.

Montgomery school budget solution could cost millions in fines