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Maryland Association of Counties: Conduit Street
By: Sarah Sample
December 24, 2024
Stay informed with this interesting read on the 2025 education policy issues in Maryland from Conduit Street.
"Legislative changes to education policy in Maryland will likely focus on adjustments to the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future (Blueprint), with a number of stakeholders interested in a broad range of issues.
The major public education reform initiative that has been underway in Maryland will undergo some tweaking during the 2025 legislative session. After three years of implementation, local and state education experts are planning to come to the table with an array of options. A few organizations, associations, and elected officials have recently announced legislative initiatives that provide some insight as to the types of considerations that will be in the mix. This issue preview will dive into the legislative platforms of the major stakeholders.
Governor Moore recently announced changes focused on pillar two of the Blueprint, which covers benefits and strategies for getting and keeping good teachers. A major component of this pillar is something called collaborative time, where teachers get more time in their day for planning and learning with peers. According to Governor Moore, this change will require the hiring of 15,000 more teachers to make up for the classroom time that still needs to be covered. Teacher shortages have plagued this effort and the Governor’s proposal is to pause this effort until more significant progress can be made on getting and retaining more certified teachers.
The Maryland State Educators Association (MSEA) is also very focused on the staffing issues. Addressing the shortage of teachers and the workloads of educators was the second major legislative priority on the association’s platform. This was listed only second behind a call for the current funding commitments to remain in place. All six elements of MSEA’s platform include:
keep existing funding commitments to public education
addressing educator shortage, retention, and workload
improving school safety and climate
holistically measuring school success
education support professionals Bill of Rights
protecting freedoms for teachers and students
From the MSEA section on teacher shortages:
Maryland’s educator and support staff shortages remain at crisis levels. While the legislature and governor have made progress on this front in the last few years, the pipeline of educators continues to be insufficient due to challenging working conditions and years of inadequate pay. We must continue to take steps to reduce excessive workload to ensure that we retain our education workforce while making the profession more desirable and attainable.
The Public School Superintendents Association of Maryland (PSSAM) published what is probably the most comprehensive and impressive education policy platform for the 2025 legislative session. The publication included 30 policy points with all of the suggested Blueprint changes categorized by urgency level. Broadly the superintendents have been focusing on changes that give local school systems more flexibility due to challenges around the “one size fits all” nature of the Blueprint. Also previously covered on Conduit Street, PSSAM sent a letter to Governor Moore, requesting collaboration on Blueprint changes that would prioritize student growth and achievement by:
ensuring investments are linked to measurable student success
leveraging money and staff effectively to produce results
assessing progress and changing course in the face of challenges
The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) has also come out with a list of focus areas for Blueprint changes. The very top of that list is what the State Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Carey Wright, has insisted needs to be at the center of the agencies work, which is improving student achievement. From her initial appointment to just last week during a recorded podcast discussion at the 2024 MACo Winter Conference, Dr. Wright has reiterated the importance of boosting proficiency in math and literacy. The recent legislative session issue paper from the Department of Legislative Services highlighted one of Dr. Wright’s first big changes along these same lines, by calling for the adoption of Science of Reading as the official reading instruction strategy for educators statewide. This also came with stricter standards for achievement in the third grade.
The full list of MSDE policy focus areas include:
increase academic achievement
bolster investments in public education
affirm a politically independent state education governance structure
build capacity at MSDE
reduce creation of new unfunded legislative mandates
resist curricular mandates
lead with an equity focus
prioritize fiscal accountability
Finally, and as previously mentioned, the Department of Legislative Services issued the agency’s annual Issue Papers which give a preview of major topics they expect to be discussed during the 2025 legislative session. The education section of the report touched on a handful of issues including school funding, cell phone policies, the aforementioned literacy strategy, and potential adjustments to pre-kindergarten (pre-K) expansion. In particular, the mixed delivery pre-k expansion plan has seen inconsistent progress across the state and is a priority topic for almost all stakeholders focused on early childhood elements of the Blueprint plan.
As a primary funding partner for public education, MACo will keep a close eye on developments in education policy this session. Advocacy efforts will focus on getting a clear understanding of Blueprint implementation costs. With a better understanding of the financial demands and how implementation has gone to date, policy requests will focus on how fiscal clarity can lead to the preservation of better student outcomes on behalf of county residents and taxpayers."