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Educator Voice|School Funding

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MSEA's 2025 Legislative Agenda

“The state is facing serious budget challenges going into the 2025 Legislative Assembly. We don’t yet know what threats from the new federal administration might have a uniquely disproportionate effect on Maryland’s economy, such as the possible loss of federal jobs (which employ 160,000 Maryland residents), federal funding for the Key Bridge and Baltimore’s new […]
Legal Questions

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A Word from Legal: Student Toileting and Educators

TOILETING: IS IT THE RESPONSIBILITY OF EDUCATORS? Yes. Prekindergarten programs include three- and four-year-olds with varying levels of toileting abilities, or none at all. Because current regulations do not permit systems to exclude students due to toileting issues, MSDE has adopted an inclusive approach and guidance to toileting students. As a result, it is the […]
Education Support Professionals|Educator Voice

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My Turn: Harford County Media Technician Beth Kowalchek

Meet Beth Kowalchek, a media technician at Havre de Grace and Meadowvale elementary schools in Harford County. She’s a skilled paraeducator and media technician and an avid reader. She’s a member of her union, the Harford County Education Association, and is currently a year-round organizer for MSEA’s ESP Bill of Rights. After several years of […]
Professional Practice|Teacher Toolkit

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Teacher's Toolkit: Randy Laird, Somerset County Social Studies Teacher

Randy Laird is a social studies teacher at his alma mater Crisfield High School in Somerset County. He’s also advisor to the senior class and National Honor Society. He’s devoted to his community and wants his students to be, too. “If there’s one thing I want students to know when they leave my classroom and […]
Educator Voice|Elections|Racial and Social Justice|School Funding|Union Updates

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The Power of Our Union Has Never Been More Important

Elections have consequences. Sometimes those consequences are a perceived mandate from voters, as in 2012 to protect the Affordable Care Act at the national level or the DREAM Act and marriage equality at the state level. Or the overwhelming support realized for a governor committed to the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, as in the elec­tion […]
Education Support Professionals|Educator Voice|Racial and Social Justice|Union Updates

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My Turn: Baltimore County CARE Liaison Cortly Witherspoon

Meet Cortly Witherspoon, a community school liaison at Baltimore County’s Winfield Elementary School. He’s a longtime social and political activist and now, as a member of the Education Support Professionals of Baltimore County (ESPBC), a union activist. This year, he’s part of MSEA’s 2024-2025 Minority Leadership Training cohort, one of MSEA’s signature leadership development programs. […]
Educator Voice|Pedagogy|Professional Practice

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Breakthroughs: Maximizing Opportunities for My Students and My Career

Erica Richardson is a social science teacher at Joppatowne High School and the 2024 Harford County Teacher of the Year. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in secondary education from St. Thomas Aquinas College and is a board member of the Middle States Council for Social Studies. For the past 25 years, I have been […]
Professional Practice|Racial and Social Justice|Union Updates

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AP Black Studies Classes Back in Harford County

Harford County made the news this summer when the board of education there denied making permanent an AP African American studies course after a successful 2023-24 pilot program in three of the county’s high schools. The controversial discussion item was removed from two board agendas ahead of the June 24 meeting and announcement, an indication […]
Educator Voice|Professional Practice

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Educators and the New Literacy Policy

Of major concern in the policy proposal was retention and its impact on equity, workload, and capacity. Retaining third grade students who do not read at grade level, which is one of the aspects of the policy, has the potential to exacerbate issues of workload and staffing, and retention frequently has long-term negative impacts on […]
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