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THIS WEEK IN ANNAPOLIS

Welcome to the 300^th edition of Up the Street! Up the Street has been published for over 16 years, through multiple governorships, vetoes, veto overrides, campaigns, and thousands and thousands of bills. When the first issue of Up the Street was released in January of 2011, it was in the context of how a recession driven by fiscal recklessness on a national level would impact investments and policies in our state, schools, and communities. Today’s Up the Street is unfortunately published in a similar context—with local educators and students left to grapple with challenges not of their making but that challenge the long-term investment in their future. While Up the Street will cover how today’s challenges play out, it will also cover—as it always has—legislative wins, educator activism, and the benefits that we all reap when the legislative process is transparent, citizen-informed, and rooted in the values that we hold dear as Marylanders. Thank you for reading! 

Bills to Give Educators Greater Voice, Preserve Funding Advance

Midway through the session, legislation important to educators is advancing, and some bills have crossed over to the opposite chamber. Among the wins this week was the unanimous House vote (136-0) on Thursday to pass House Bill 325 to specifically include a special education teacher on the Professional Standards and Teacher Education Board (PSTEB). HB325 is sponsored by Del. Michele Guyton (D-Baltimore County), and it is in the Senate now. Among worker rights issues, one of MSEA’s 2026 priorities is to give ESPs a stronger voice in their profession, and House Bill 828, sponsored by Del. Eric Ebersole (D-Baltimore County) would ensure that an ESP is on the State Board of Education. HB828 was heard Wednesday in the House Ways and Means Committee. 

MSEA President Paul Lemle attended a rally and testified Thursday for the Living Wage for All legislation, House Bill 1229, sponsored by Del. Vaughn Stewart (D-Montgomery). HB1229 proposes a $25 minimum wage that would be phased in over four years. The crossfile is Senate Bill 886, sponsored by Sen. Anthony Muse (D-Prince George’s).

MSEA also provided testimony in a dozen other bill hearings to protect public school funding from voucher schemes; expand worker rights and improve pay; expand racial, social equity and justice; and improve working conditions, among other issues.

Education Funding

MSEA advocated Tuesday for House Bill 1142 in Ways and Means for a task force to modernize county revenue options. HB1142 is sponsored by Ways and Means Committee Chair Del. Jheanelle Wilkins (D-Montgomery). To prevent erosion of K-12 public education funding, MSEA testified for House Bill 930, in Ways and Means, sponsored by Del. Catherine Forbes (D-Baltimore County), and against House Bill 455/Senate Bill 329, in Ways and Means and the Senate Education, Energy, and the Environment Committee, which would enable voucher schemes envisioned by President Trump to benefit unaccountable private and religious schools. HB455/SB329 is sponsored by Del. April Miller (R-Frederick) and Sen. Bill Folden (R-Frederick), respectively. MSEA also supported House Bill 562 in the Appropriations Committee  on Tuesday, sponsored by Del. Jessica Feldmark (D-Howard). It would require an inflation adjustment to be calculated when local districts determine maintenance of effort funding.

Education Policy

MSEA advocated Thursday in the Education, Energy, and the Environment Committee for Senate Bill 720 for county boards of education to establish professional development and guidelines for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in schools. SB720 is sponsored by Katie Fry Hester (D-Howard and Montgomery). The crossfile is House Bill 1057, sponsored by Eric Ebersole (D-Baltimore County), which is scheduled for a hearing in Ways and Means on Wednesday. Senate Bill 375, to be heard today in Education, Energy, and the Environment, has MSEA support to require local boards of education to train their members in AI.

In support of the objectives of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, MSEA on Wednesday in Ways and Means opposed House Bill 803, which would cut educators’ planning and collaborative time that is supposed to increase to 40%. Sponsored by April Miller (R-Frederick), HB803 would cut the collaborative time to 20%. The shortsighted and imprudent attempt to reduce expenses would come at the expense of the professional standards and supportive workplace that the Blueprint values and that educators know makes a big difference in formulating better support for students, connecting with parents, and improving their practice.

Racial, Social Justice

On Tuesday in the House Judiciary Committee MSEA supported bills to restrain aggressive federal law enforcement. House Bill 155 would prohibit law enforcement from wearing face masks, and House Bill 1341 would prohibit school security from engaging in immigration actions. HB1341 is on third reader in the House. The crossfile of HB155, Senate Bill 1, was passed by the Senate (31-13) and has been assigned to the  Judiciary Committee in the House. Senate Bill 810 is the crossfile of HB1341 and is scheduled to be heard Wednesday in Education, Energy, and the Environment.

Former House Speaker Jones, Majority Whip Benson, Finance Chair Beidle Retiring

Tuesday night was the candidate filing deadline for the 2026 election, and when it came and went three longtime leaders opted not to file and signaled the end of their legislative careers at the end of their terms this year. Former House Speaker Del. Adrienne Jones (D-Baltimore County), Sen. Joanne Benson (D-Prince George’s), and Sen. Pam Beidle (D-Anne Arundel), chair of the Finance Committee, have all decided to retire.

Jones made history in 2019 as the first woman and first Black lawmaker to become Maryland’s House Speaker. She forged her leadership during the pandemic, and used her position to help pass laws that served those with less power, crafting humane responses conditions and deprivation by federal policies. The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future had no greater supporter, and Jones demanded that legislators stay true to the Blueprint’s aim to achieve overdue equity in public education. She has served in the House since 1997. Stepping down from the Speaker’s position, Jones chose to continue serving her 10^th District in the House, until she made this week’s announcement.

Benson is a longtime educator in the county (now retired) and a member of the Prince George’s County Educators’ Association. She is Majority Whip and serves on the Budget and Taxation Committee, which has ultimate responsibility for the annual state budget, and she is chair of its Procurement Subcommittee. She was first elected to the Senate in 2010 and before that was a member of the House of Delegates from 1991-2011. She was the Senate deputy majority leader from 2020 to 2023, and assistant deputy majority leader from 2017-2019. She also chaired the Rules Committee, which determines the fate of legislation under tight deadlines. She has been a member since 1991 of the Maryland Legislative Black Caucus, which she chaired from 1995-1996, among other caucus leadership roles. In Prince George’s County she serves on the Affordable Housing Commission, and previously served on the Medicaid Advisory Committee, among other memberships. She has long been a passionate and outspoken champion of education issues, educational equity, and school funding. Additionally, her work has directly affected access to healthcare, fair business practices, civil rights, and environmental protection.

Beidle has been in the Senate since 2019, and served in the House from 2006-2019. She currently serves as chair of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, and, like Benson, previously served as chair of the Executive Nominations Committee. Beidle, who also serves on the Anne Arundel County Council before joining the General Assembly, has been a leader in transportation and health care issues in addition to being a strong supporter of public schools and educators throughout her tenure in office. As Finance Committee chair, her departure will create a rearranging of committee leaders.

NEWS AND NOTES

Baltimore Superintendent Leaves Position with a Year Left on Contract

On Thursday, Baltimore County School Superintendent Myriam Rogers announced her retirement effective July 1, a year ahead of her four-year contract’s expiration. Rogers has served since 2023, following the resignation of Darryl Williams. Baltimore County Board of Education members expressed surprise at Rogers’ announcement. On Tuesday at the State Board of Education meeting, Rogers was honored for receiving a National Women in School Leadership Award from the School Superintendents Association.

Education Statistics Expert Appointed to State Board of Education

Gov. Moore has appointed education statistics expert Peggy Carr to the State Board of Education (SBOE). Carr is a visiting professor in the College of Education at the University of Maryland, and was fired a year ago by President Trump from her position as commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Carr spent 30 years at NCES, and she was the first Black person and first woman to lead it. NCES gathers data for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), known as the Nation’s Report Card. Carr helped develop the assessment, which measures proficiency in reading and math. On the SBOE Carr would take the place of Chuen-Chin Bianca Chang, who was appointed by former Gov. Hogan, and whose term expires this year.

Changes to Federal Department Announced

The Trump Administration continues its attempts to demolish the U.S. Department of Education and redistribute its programs to other agencies. The department announced this week that Health and Human Services will take a growing role in administering family engagement and student supports programming under the School Emergency Response to Violence, School Safety National Activities, Ready to Learn Programming, Full-Service Community Schools, Promise Neighborhoods, and Statewide Family Engagement Centers. That follows the November distribution of elementary and secondary education programs funded under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to the Department of Labor, among other changes. Among the Labor Department’s new education-related responsibilities are programs for low-income school districts, homeless youth, migrant students, academic supports, and afterschool programs.

AG Brown Sues to Prevent ICE Detention Facility in Western Maryland

While the legislature is passing laws to restrain aggressive, terrorizing federal enforcement of immigration law, Attorney General Anthony Brown is suing the Trump Administration to block the construction of a detention facility in Washington County. The plan to create a detention center in Willamsport followed no due process, Brown said. In a video message, he said that the administration spent $100 million of taxpayer money on the warehouse “without telling anyone. No public notice. No consultation with the state. They just did it.”

CAMPAIGN 2026

Moore Files for Reelection, One More Republican Declines

With the filing deadline passed, it’s official that Gov. Moore is running for reelection along with Lieutenant Gov. Aruna Miller.  Senate Minority Leader Sen. Steve Hershey (R-Kent, Queen Anne’s, Cecil, and Caroline) had flirted with the idea of running against Moore but chose to run for reelection instead. That leaves failed gubernatorial contender and former Frederick Delegate Dan Cox as likely the best known name among the Republicans who filed to oppose Moore.