Educators Support Alsobrooks to Win Senate Race, Protect Public Education
And other legislative updates in this month’s Up the Street
THIS MONTH IN ANNAPOLIS
Pro-Public Education Senate Candidate Angela Alsobrooks Has MSEA, NEA Support
To elect pro-public education leaders in Congress, the National Education Association (NEA) and MSEA have formally announced support for Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks (D) in the race for U.S. Senate. MSEA convened a representative assembly (RA) where delegates voted in favor of the MSEA Endorsement Council’s recommendation of Alsobrooks for the race, and NEA voted in favor of the recommendation from the MSEA RA.
Alsobrooks has impressed educators as Prince George’s County Executive. “I have personally witnessed Angela’s steadfast commitment to our community, particularly in her dedication to our schools,” said Dr. Donna Christy, president of the Prince George’s County Educators’ Association. “Her willingness to listen, learn, and understand from educators, parents, and students is also commendable. Angela actively seeks diverse perspectives and is dedicated to uniting these voices to address pressing educational needs. Her approach is marked by compassion and a pragmatic desire to facilitate positive change.”
“Angela Alsobrooks will bring her much needed perspective to the Senate, using her voice to ensure that every student—no matter their race, place, or background—has access to quality public schools,” said NEA President Becky Pringle.
Announcing the endorsement via video alongside Alsobrooks, MSEA President Cheryl Bost said that Alsobrooks “has been a strong public education supporter, and we’re proud to be part of her team. The stakes are high, so let’s all work together for the betterment of Maryland and join educators to get Angela Alsobrooks elected.”
Alsobrooks faces Larry Hogan in a race that may determine control of the U.S. Senate. While he touts himself on the campaign trail as someone who brings people together, Hogan ignored MSEA’s invitation to participate in the recommendation process, maintaining his streak of refusing to meet with MSEA. A complete list of endorsements for Alsobrooks is on her campaign website.
Poverty Fighting Program ENOUGH Act Grant Opportunity Opens
The next phase of Gov. Wes Moore’s ENOUGH Act, which passed this year to fight childhood poverty, has begun. With chronic poverty impacting students every day, MSEA supported the ENOUGH Act, which engages neighborhoods, organizations, unions, government, and households to eliminate persistent, localized, and unique concentrated areas of poverty. Grant applications are open through July 19, for amounts between $65,000 and $5 million.
NEWS AND NOTES
New Literacy Policy Would Impact Elementary Retention
The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) is considering a new literacy policy that could mean that third graders who cannot demonstrate certain literacy skills would be retained. The path to acquiring the missing skills is complex, however. An educator shortage hampers increased individualized attention and tutoring in school. While the full implementation of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future will bring with it expanded intensive tutoring and pre-kindergarten—both of which can play important roles in supporting early literacy—those supports are not fully in place yet.
“We are still in an educator shortage. How we can retain staff…is going to be key to all of this,” MSEA President Cheryl Bost said, recommending tutoring occur within the school day. “When we do that though, we can’t pull kids out of the arts. We have to be creative in scheduling because those other subject areas are important.”
Public comment on the policy is open through July 19. To get feedback MSDE invites the public to complete a survey here and submit comments here.
Congress Considers Blueprint for Maryland’s Future as Guide for Solving Educator Shortage
Education leaders, including William “Brit” Kirwan, one of the architects of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, offered expertise to U.S. Senate Education Committee members considering the nationwide educator shortage. Kirwan touted the Blueprint’s plan to raise the pay and respect for educators, which committee members agreed is needed. A chorus of voices on Capitol Hill told Congress that many educators have to work more than one job, their pay has not kept up with inflation, and it has always fallen short of salaries of people with comparable levels of education. Meanwhile, House Republicans’ fiscal year 2025 budget proposal would cut the education budget 13%, $11 billion, including cuts to Title I schools where the effects of poverty persist.
Sara Love Becomes District 16 Senator
Sara Love (D) was tapped by the Montgomery County Central Democratic Committee and approved by Gov. Moore to fill the District 16 Senate vacancy left when Sen. Ariana Kelly resigned to become executive director of the Maryland Commission for Women. Love had been a Montgomery County delegate since 2018.
Digital Ad Tax Supporting Education Survives
A federal court has upheld Maryland’s digital advertising tax law. Passed in 2021 as a funding source for the Blueprint, the law continues to face legal challenges. Estimated to return as much as $250 million annually, the digital advertising tax collects revenue specifically for education by levying a tax on large online advertising companies like Google and Meta that profit from Maryland consumers and have paid no state taxes. The tax applies to annual gross revenues derived from digital advertising services in Maryland by businesses with at least $100 million in global annual gross revenues. The tax rate ranges from 2.5% to 10%, depending on the global annual gross revenues of the business.
CAMPAIGN 2024
Reproductive Freedom at Stake in Race between Alsobrooks, Hogan
With reproductive freedom already on the Maryland ballot as part of a ballot measure, in the race for U.S. Senate, Angela Alsobrooks (D) warned voters not to trust candidate Larry Hogan’s new claims, but instead to look at his record. As governor, he vetoed a law to expand reproductive healthcare access for Marylanders. When the General Assembly overturned his veto, he denied funding for the expansion, which was later funded by Gov. Moore. In the U.S. Senate, Maryland’s next senator will be positioned to push back against a Republican agenda that includes restricting abortion access in the wake of the Dobbs decision.
The reproductive rights ballot measure on this year’s ballot would enshrine access to abortion in Maryland’s constitution. The measure received support in a vote by MSEA delegates at the spring representative assembly. “Now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned, the rights and protections of women and families have been under attack across the country, greatly restricting rights and freedoms in deeply personal and invasive ways—from banning abortion to restricting fertility treatments like IVF,” MSEA President Bost said. “We must ensure that Marylanders have the highest possible protection by enshrining our rights and freedoms in the Maryland constitution.” More information about the effort to support the ballot measure can be found here.
Threat to Public Schools Looms with Republican Platform
The proposed national Republican party platform poses an existential threat to public schools. Among the drastic proposals, the platform calls for gutting the Department of Education, mandating universal school choice, reducing educator autonomy and pay, endangering honest and accurate history curricula, and expanding the role of religion in school. If the platform were enacted, it would imperil safe school environments for historically marginalized people, stifle critical thinking skills, and create a workplace that would drive educators out of the profession.
Similarly, although Trump denies affiliating with it, the Project 2025 presidential administration transition agenda drafted by the Heritage Foundation and some former Trump staffers contains anti-public education directives among its sweeping anti-government changes. Project 2025 would not just weaken but abolish the Education Department, divert Title I funds that for decades have supported schools with students living in poverty, and weaken civil rights protections for marginalized groups.